Never has the womenÆs college game seen such depth. North Carolina is No. 1 in Soccer AmericaÆs preseason rankings, but a case could easily be made for half a dozen other teams, beginning with defending champ Notre Dame. Three former Soccer America College Players of the Year — Christine Sinclair (Portland Æ02), Lindsay Tarpley (North Carolina Æ03) and Katie Thorlakson (Notre Dame Æ04) û are back for their senior seasons. The return of U.S. U-19 stars who redshirted last fall to play at the FIFA world championships and an influx of young Canada stars mean thereÆs more talent to go around.
RANK TEAM (LAST YEAR'S RECORD)
1 North Carolina (20-1-2)
2 Notre Dame (25-1-1)
3 UCLA (18-7-0)
4 Portland (20-4-0)
5 Virginia (17-3-2)
6 Penn State (19-3-1)
7 Santa Clara (18-5-2)
8 Duke (15-8-0)
9 Connecticut (18-7-1)
10 Ohio State (19-4-3)
11 Nebraska (14-9-0)
12 Texas A&M (18-6-0)
13 Florida (16-4-3)
14 Princeton (19-3-0)
15 West Virginia (15-6-0)
16 Boston College (15-7-1)
17 Stanford (13-6-3)
18 Illinois (16-6-2)
19 Texas (15-7-2)
20 Tennessee (17-5-2)
21 Kansas (18-5-0)
22 California (11-6-3)
23 Arizona (15-6-0)
24 Maryland (9-7-4)
25 San Diego (12-8-2)