Women's Soccer

Pomona-Pitzer Favored for Seventh Straight Women's Soccer Title in Preseason Poll

A rematch of last year’s SCIAC Tournament final could be in the cards as Pomona-Pitzer Colleges have been picked just ahead of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the 2025 SCIAC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
 
An expected breakout saw Hannah Hong earn Offensive Athlete of the Year recognition after leading the conference with 10 goals in 20 games while two-time First Team All-SCIAC goalkeeper Patricia DePalma and defender Spencer Deutz teamed with Vivian Rojas Collins to surrender just seven goals all season. Ava Watanabe also cracked the Second Team for a Sagehens team which has won six consecutive regular season titles.
 
Tournament champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges will have one First Team honoree back in two-sport star Cate Lewison, who was second in points to Hong with an average of 1.0 per game, along with Second Teamer Flora Glantz. The Athenas finished just four points off the Sagehens after a pair of defeats in the regular season but secured an NCAA Championship berth with the Tournament trophy on the line. Coaching Staff of the Year winner David Nolan’s squad posted the second-best goal difference in the conference at +24 including an average of two goals scored per game.
 
After spending two years waiting to lead the line for California Lutheran University, Olivia Suarez broke out with six goals to make the All-SCIAC First Team while Ashley Escamilla earned a Second Team nod. A 10-2 record left the Regals one point shy of Pomona-Pitzer after sharing the 2023 regular season title.
 
Chapman University’s Jenna Urrabazo will look to close out one of the Panthers’ most decorated careers after earning a third All-SCIAC distinction. The forward appeared in fifth among the points leaders at 0.76 per game while Second Team selection Pilar Vanheusden ranked seventh at 0.71 to form one of the conference’s top attacking duos under new coach TJ Perez. Alanis Cervantes leads a deep midfield for Whittier College after picking up Second Team honors last season, with center back Emma Tumbarello and goalkeeper Mya Rodriguez spearheading a defense that recorded seven shutouts.
 
Two-time All-SCIAC designee Maren Handel is the lone returning Second Team choice of three from last season for the University of La Verne, while Haley Jacobson was Occidental College’s sole honoree. A pair of All-SCIAC selections return for the University of Redlands in Second Teamer Kelsey Williams and Jordanian National Team member CJ Akroush, who scored two international goals in the last year while also earning All-SCIAC First Team recognition. Caltech’s Marie Choi-Schattle missed time with injury but tied with Akroush to rank third in the conference for average points per game at 0.88 and will play under a new coach in Scott Wilson.
 
2025 SCIAC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 77 points (five first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 73 pts (4)
3. California Lutheran, 64 pts
4. Chapman, 47 pts
5. Whittier, 43 pts
6. La Verne, 39 pts
7. Occidental, 27 pts
8. Redlands, 26 pts
9. Caltech, 9 pts
 

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