SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Oral Roberts women's soccer team was picked fourth in the 2023 Summit League women's soccer preseason coaches' poll released Tuesday by league officials. Gabrielle Abbey and Samantha Guzman were named Players to Watch.

First-year head coach Julianne Sitch has an abundance of key players back for the Pioneers' regular season title defense. Her squad will be anchored by a quartet of graduate students that have racked up numerous all-league accolades throughout their careers. That foursome includes forwards Camryn MacMillan and Sydney Sharp along with midfielder Kaitlyn Glover and defender Hannah Gallegos.

The Pioneers have made the tournament title game in six of the last seven years, hoisting the trophy three times (2017, 2018 and 2020). A season ago, DU recorded an 11-4-4 overall ledger and went 8-0-1 against league foes en route to their fifth straight regular season title.
 
The Jackrabbits are coming off a 2022 campaign that saw them post an impressive 13-1-5 overall record and a 7-0-2 league mark. SDSU was the last unbeaten team in all of Division I women's soccer a year ago and head coach Brock Thompson has led the Jackrabbits to a 45-4-8 mark in Summit League play through his first six seasons in Brookings.

Thompson returns senior forward Maya Hansen, who was named the 2022 Summit League Offensive Player of the Year. She led the league in scoring with 27 points and goals with 11, six of which came against conference foes.

Omaha (48 points) was selected third after capturing the program's first Summit League tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2022. The third-seeded Mavericks won the tournament title at home, setting the attendance record for a Summit League championship match with 748 in attendance at Caniglia Field. Four points behind Omaha was tournament runner-up Oral Roberts (44 points), who earned a spot in the championship final for the first time since 2016 and did so under the direction of first-year head coach Austin Risenhoover.

North Dakota State was picked to finish fifth with 36 points, while South Dakota secured sixth with 25 points. North Dakota tallied 20 points to land in seventh, while St. Thomas (19 points) was a point behind in eighth. Kansas City rounded out the preseason poll with 11 points.

The #SummitWSOC Championship field will once again feature six teams and take place over the course of two weekends. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place Friday, Oct. 27 and Sunday, Oct. 29, respectively, and the championship match will take place Saturday, Nov. 4. The locations will be based on seeding with the top two seeds hosting two games on the opening weekend and the highest-remaining seed hosting the title game.
 

2023 Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank	School	Points (1st)	2022 Record (SL)
1.	Denver	62 (6)	11-4-4 (8-0-1, 25 pts.)
2.	South Dakota State	59 (3)	13-1-5 (7-0-2, 23 pts.)
3.	Omaha	48	7-9-6 (4-2-3, 15 pts.)
4.	Oral Roberts	44	10-9-3 (4-5, 12 pts.)
5.	North Dakota State	36	8-9-3 (4-5, 12 pts.)
6.	South Dakota	25	4-9-5 (3-4-2, 11 pts.)
7.	North Dakota	20	7-9-4 (3-4-2, 11 pts.)
8.	St. Thomas	19	6-8-3 (2-6-1, 7 pts.)
9.	Kansas City	11	2-11-15 (1-5-3, 6 pts.)

#SummitWSOC Preseason Notes

• Three of the Summit League's six individual award honorees are back in 2023 with South Dakota State boasting Offensive Player of the Year Maya Hansen and back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Year Jocelyn Tanner. Additionally, St. Thomas brings back Newcomer of the Year Mariah Nguyen.
• SDSU will look to make its 11^th consecutive Summit League Championship appearance after winning two of the past four league tournament titles.
• Omaha will look to become the first league squad to repeat as tournament champions since 2018 (Denver). Goalkeeper and Tournament MVP Emma Konsmo was stellar in three tournament matches for the Mavericks, making 15 saves and posting a trio of shutouts.
• The Mavericks return all-league honorees from Regan Zimmers (first team) and Grace Ostergaard (second team) from a season ago along with honorable-mention honoree Jordyn West and all-newcomer team members Lindsey Birch and Konsmo. Zimmers helped lead an Omaha defense to eight total shutouts in 2022.
• Oral Roberts will look for its second straight tournament title-game appearance and are led by a trio of fifth-year seniors in Gabrielle Abbey, Samantha See and Angie Machado. See led the Golden Eagles with six goals and was tied for the team lead with Julia Thasaphong with 15 points last season.
• Five Summit League players are back that earned United Soccer Coaches All-West Region honors in 2022. That quintet includes South Dakota State's Hansen (first team), Jackrabbit teammate Kaycee Manding (second), Omaha's Zimmers (second), North Dakota State's Paige Goaley (third) and SDSU's Laney Murdzek (third).
• Hansen enters her final collegiate season tied for the most game-winning goals in league history with 17, tied for the second most goals with 39 and sits third on the all-time charts with 96 career points. Additionally, the senior led the league during the regular season with five game-winning goals, which was tied for the sixth most in the nation.
• St. Thomas' Nguyen appeared in all nine league matches for the Tommies and led the team in goals (5), points (14) and shots on goal (14).
• Denver's MacMillan, Sharp, Glover and Gallegos all return for their final seasons this fall as graduate seniors and have combined for 262 appearances, including 176 starts.
• Sharp is coming off an injury that forced her to miss all of 2022, while Glover leads the quartet with 75 appearances and has collected 57 career points. DU junior Samantha Ciccone, who made her first appearance of the season during the penalty shootout of last year's Summit League semifinal loss to Oral Roberts, will take over at goalkeeper, replacing former all-league performer Nerea Arrazola.
• Eight out of last season's 11 starters for South Dakota return this fall, including senior Ashby Johnston, who was the third leading scorer on the team and is one of 12 seniors on the 2023 roster.
• After missing the past two seasons with injuries, NDSU's Goaley had a breakthrough in 2022 where the forward started all 20 matches and recorded seven goals on 44 shots. She scored in three consecutive league matches and notched a game-winning goal against in-state rival North Dakota.
• Kansas City's Sophia Limongi, a 2022 honorable mention recipient, returns as one of the team's most potent defensive players. The senior was one of two Roos to start all 18 matches and played a team-leading 1,596 minutes.
• North Dakota's Madi Livingston, a member of the all-league second team, is one of the top returning goalkeepers. The fifth-year senior appeared and started all 20 matches, while posting a 1.88 goals-against average and a .807 save percentage to go with seven wins. She became one of four UND goalkeepers to record a seven-shutout season.

#SummitWSOC Schedule Notes

• The 2023 season officially begins Aug. 17 and the league schedule is slated to start Sept. 21 with a trio of matches, including Omaha at North Dakota, St. Thomas at South Dakota and Kansas City at North Dakota State.
• Preseason favorite Denver will open the Julianne Sitch era at home against Colorado State on Aug. 17.
• The Pioneers will wrap their regular season with a two-game road trip at North Dakota State (Oct. 19) and North Dakota (Oct. 22). Denver owns a 10-match unbeaten streak against the Bison and are 7-0 all-time against the Fighting Hawks.
• South Dakota State will open league play on the road against in-state rival South Dakota followed by two straight home matches against NDSU (Sept. 28) and UND (Oct. 1).
• The rematch of the 2022 #SummitWSOC Championship match will take place on Thurs., Sept. 28 when Oral Roberts visits Omaha. The Mavericks won the title game in penalty kicks (3-1) and took the regular season meeting 1-0 in Tulsa a year ago.
• The women's soccer slate will be played over the course of five weeks with games slated for Thursday and Sunday with the nine teams competing against at least one league opponent each week until the end of the regular season on Oct. 22.

Players to Watch
Hannah Gallegos | Denver | Graduate | Defender
• 2022 Summit League Honorable Mention honoree and a member of the 2022 All-Tournament Team
• Played in all 19 matches where she totaled the third-most minutes (1,617) on the team
• Scored a goal against North Dakota State and assisted in a win against Omaha

Kaitlyn Glover | Denver | Graduate | Midfielder
• 2022 All-League First Team member after playing in 18 matches, starting in 16, totaling 1,214 minutes of action
• Led team with three game-winning goals and 18 total points, while adding six assists

Maya Hansen | South Dakota State | Senior | Forward
• 2022 #SummitWSOC Player of the Year, All-Summit League First Team honoree, United Soccer Coaches' All-West Region First Team honoree after leading the league in scoring (27 points) and goals (11)
• SDSU's program leader in career points (96) and tied for all-time lead in goals (39)
• Ranked 18th in Division I in points per game, 20th in goals per game and 13th in game-winning goals in 2022

Jocelyn Tanner | South Dakota State | Junior | Goalkeeper
• Back-to-back Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year award winner, 2022 First Team All-Summit after leading the nation with a .316 goals against average and country's second best save percentage (.897)
• Played in all 19 matches last season and registered a perfect save percentage in 11 appearances and combined for 11 shutouts
• Recorded a season-high three saves on five different occasions and was named a College Sports Communicators Second Team Academic All-American

Grace Ostergaard | Omaha | Senior | Midfielder
• A three-time All-Summit League second team honoree who started all 22 matches for the Mavericks last season, logging 1,853 minutes
• Finished with five points on two goals and one assist, totaling 21 shots with nine on goal
• Netted the game-winning goal in the quarterfinals against South Dakota State (Oct. 30)

Regan Zimmers | Omaha | Junior | Forward
• 2022 All-Summit League first team member and was named a United Soccer Coaches second team All-West Region honoree helping the Mavericks to eight shutouts, including three straight during the team's run to a Summit League Championship title
• Logged 1,930 minutes on the pitch and played the full duration in all but three matches
• Tallied one goal and two assists and scored in Omaha's 2-1 win vs. St. Thomas

Gabrielle Abbey | Oral Roberts | Graduate | Defender/Forward
• Earned Summit League honorable mention honors in 2022
• Named TicketSmarter Defensive Peak Performer of the Week after leading ORU to back-to-back shutouts against UND and NDSU

Samantha Guzman | Oral Roberts | Junior | Midfielder
• Earned Summit League honorable mention honors last season after playing in 20 contests, tallying 940 minutes played and scoring five goals to go with three assists
• Collected three points on two occasions last year, including once in a league match against Kansas City
• Finished the regular season scoring the fourth most goals in the league

Paige Goaley | North Dakota State | Senior | Forward
• Returned to the lineup after missing the past two seasons due to injury and was named to the All-Summit League Second Team and was named a United Soccer Coaches All-West Region third team honoree
• Started all 20 games last season, logging 1,316 minutes on the pitch and recorded seven goals on 44 shots
• Scored fastest goal in NDSU history (37 seconds) in the season opener against Tarleton State (Aug. 19) and assisted on three goals during the season to tally 17 total points

Abby Wilkinson | North Dakota State | Senior | Goalkeeper
• Garnered Summit League honorable mention honors and two TicketSmarter Defensive Peak Performer of the Week awards
• Started in goal in 14 matches, logging over 1,252 minutes
• Allowed a 1.29 goals against average, recorded four shutouts and made 70 saves for a .795 save percentage

Taylor Ravelo | South Dakota | Senior | Defender
• 2022 Summit League honorable mention honoree after starting all 18 matches
• Notched three goals and scored the game-winning goal against Dordt
• Had five shots on goal and a 55.6 percent shots on goal percentage

Ashby Johnston | South Dakota | Senior | Forward
• Played all 18 matches and started in 16 of those matches where she logged 963 minutes
• Scored four goals and recorded two assists during the 2022 campaign
• Netted the game-winning goal in a comeback victory over St. Thomas and put 55 percent of her shots on frame

Mary Gasaway | North Dakota | Junior | Defender
• Appeared in 20 matches, starting 19 of them where she registered one goal at Wyoming and one assist at Kansas City
• Recorded a season-high 90 minutes against Omaha

Allison Rapaduski | North Dakota | Junior | Midfielder
• Appeared in 18 matches with 17 starts in 2022
• Recorded eight shots with three on goal and has appeared in 35 career matches

Mariah Nguyen | St. Thomas | Junior | Forward/Midfielder
• Named the 2022 Summit League Newcomer of the Year after playing in nine league matches,  leading the Tommies in goals (5), points (14) and shots on goal (14)
• Tied for eighth in league play with eight points and tied for fifth in scoring among league players during the regular season

Camryn Rintoul | St. Thomas | Junior | Defender/Midfielder
• Played in all 17 matches making 16 starts covering 1,469 minutes
• Scored three goals and added one assist for seven points, recording 37 shots and with eight on goal

Sophia Limongi | Kansas City | Senior | Defender
• Played a team-leading 1,596 minutes and was one of two Roos to start all 18 matches last year
• Tallied one assist, putting eight of her nine shots on frame and played a full 90 minutes in 17 of 18 matches

Madison Page | Kansas City | Redshirt Sophomore | Forward
• Appeared in 17 matches, making 16 starts and started each of the final 13 matches last season
• Played 941 minutes on the pitch and scored a team-leading five goals on the year, tied for the ninth-most in the league

Note: Players to Watch nominated by league's head coaches