COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced their 2022 RMAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll on Thursday with No. 8 University of Colorado Colorado Springs Women's Soccer coming up three points shy of becoming preseason favorites after receiving a conference high five first-place votes and 125 points to be tied for second place with Colorado Mesa University.

Colorado School of Mines comes in as the preseason favorites with 128 points and three first-place votes.

The 2021 Mountain Lions became just the second program in department history to sweep both the regular season and conference championship in the same season as they tied a program high 19 wins after going 10-2 in the RMAC for an overall 19-4 record. UCCS ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak and continued the dominant play through the RMAC Tournament by mounting back-to-back shutout wins over MSU Denver and Mines in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. That then led to the Mountain Lions hosting the championship game on their home turf which resulted in a 3-1 win over Regis University.

Statistically, the Mountain Lions' offense was a force to be reckoned with among the RMAC as they ranked first in the conference for total points (175), total goals (62), total assists (51), and scoring offense (2.69).

UCCS also landed three RMAC Preseason Players to Watch list for this upcoming season with Jadyn LeDoux, Makayla Merlo, and Zoe Sims receiving the nod.

Playing in a total of 20 games as a true freshman, Jadyn LeDoux made a name for herself on one of the best offenses in the nation by netting eight goals and recording five assists for the second most points on the team (21). LeDoux registered two braces last season, including a five-point performance against Regis in the RMAC Championship where she scored twice with her first goal going down as the game winner to help claim the title. The Colorado Springs native garnered RMAC Offensive Player of the Week accolades and ended the season as a D2CCA All-Region Second Team selection, as well as an All-RMAC Second Team selection.  

Playing her first full season as a Mountain Lion in 2021 was redshirt freshman Makayla Merlo. Merlo wasted no time making an immediate impact for UCCS with the midfielder tying the team high in goals (nine) while tallying the second most minutes of any Mountain Lion (1,764) after making 21 starts in 23 games. Merlo added two assists for a combined 20 points last season as she claimed two game winning goals, including the game winner against Colorado School of Mines in the 2-0 clean sheet win to advance in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Her play throughout the season put the league on watch as Merlo collected All-RMAC First Team honors and an RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award, with the Broomfield, Colo. native also earning D2CCA All-Region First team and United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team.

A key piece in the Mountain Lion defense that posted 10 shutout wins in 2021, redshirt junior Zoe Sims is back on the pitch for her fourth season in the black and gold after earning her second All-RMAC Honorable Mention selection last season. Sims saw in uptick in playing time in 2021 as the midfielder set new season career highs in minutes played (1,686), games played (22), and games started (20). In eight starts Sims played the entirety of the match with four of those games resulting in a shutout win, including both the RMAC Semifinal and NCAA Regional win over Colorado School of Mines. Sims also had an impact on the offensive side of the ball by tallying three points off a goal and one assist while landing four of her six shots on frame.

The Mountain Lions' season is slated to begin on Thursday, Aug. 25 as they play host to No. 3 Dallas Baptist University for a 7 p.m. match inside Mountain Lion Stadium.

2022 RMAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

Institution (First-Place Votes)	Points
1. Colorado School of Mines (3)	128
T2. UCCS (5)	125
T2. Colorado Mesa (3)	125
4. Westminster	99
5. MSU Denver (1)	93
6. CSU Pueblo	89
7. Regis	85
8. Fort Lewis	70
9. Colorado Christian	65
10. Black Hills State (1)	49
11. Western Colorado	37
12. Adams State	30
13. New Mexico Highlands	19