Wisconsin’s women’s soccer was ranked No. 6 in the Big Ten and No. 19 in the nation in preseason polls this week.
The Badgers learned of their conference nomination on Tuesday, a day before their United Soccer Coaches’ national ranking.
Wisconsin landed behind only UCLA (No. 1), Penn State (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 3), Nebraska (No. 4) and USC (No. 5). Rutgers (No. 7), Iowa (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 9) and Indiana (No. 10) rounded the conference’s preseason top 10.
Three Badgers were also listed among Big Ten players to watch: Hailey Baumann, Maddie Ishaug and Aryssa Mahart. Baumann will enter her second season with UW after helping anchor its defensive, Ishaug will look to build off her team-leading 2,068-minute total in 2024 and Mahart aims to continue her offensive tear (25 shots on goal, seven assists) during her third season in Madison.
It's time to 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞! We've been selected as sixth in the Big Ten!
H. Baumann, Ishaug, and Mahrt have also been named B1G Players to Watch!#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/oiR91GsZYk
— Wisconsin Women’s Soccer (@BadgerWSoccer) August 13, 2024
Coming in 🔥 @BadgerWSoccer enters the 2024 season ranked No. 19 in the @UnitedCoaches preseason poll. pic.twitter.com/xFOosZPeFs
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) August 14, 2024
The Badgers registered an overall record of 14-5-7 in 2023 and fell to Iowa in the Big Ten title game. UW officially begins its season on the road against No. 3 BYU on Thursday, Aug. 15.