The Huskies also landed three players on the all-preseason team.
UConn women’s soccer was picked to finish second in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll while three players were selected to the all-preseason squad, the conference announced on Tuesday. The Huskies picked up one first-place vote — presumably from Georgetown, who topped the poll but can’t vote for itself.
Fifth-year Kaitlyn Mahoney was named the Big East Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year and made the all-preseason team alongside fifth-year defender Lucy Cappadona and junior forward Chioma Okafor.
Second place would mark the Huskies’ highest finish since joining the new Big East in 2020 and their best mark in any conference since 2016, when they won the AAC regular season title. UConn is coming off a third-place finish in 2023 after landing in sixth the previous two seasons. It nabbed second in the east division during the Covid-impacted 2021 spring campaign as well.
Mahoney won the league’s goalie of the year award in 2023 after posting a 0.53 goals against average (good for 12th-best in the nation) and 11 shutouts while starting all 19 games for UConn.
Anchoring the back line in front of Mahoney is Cappadona, who’s been a staple in the Huskies’ starting XI since joining the program. She’s started every game in her collegiate career and led a UConn defense that allowed just three goals in Big East play last season — the fewest by any team in the league since 2000.
Up top, Okafor paced the Huskies with six goals as a sophomore despite playing most of the season with an injury, which earned her All-Big East First Team and NSCAA Third Team All-American honors.
Expectations are high for UConn this season. The Huskies have steadily improved under head coach Margaret Rodriguez and have boasted one of the best defenses in the nation over the last few seasons, but are still trying to return to the national stage. After making the first 26 NCAA Tournaments and missing just four total prior to 2016, UConn hasn’t made the field since then — a stretch of seven seasons.
The Huskies will have their sights set on changing that when they begin the regular season against Vermont this Saturday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. ET at Morrone Stadium in Storrs.