CU Buffs ranked No. 4 in Big 12 preseason poll – Longmont Times-Call
Jordan Nytes left the Big 12 Conference as one of the best goalies in the league and will return to the league as such.
On Thursday, the Big 12 announced its preseason poll in women’s soccer as well as its preseason all-conference team. Nytes, who will begin her second season as CU’s starter after transferring from Oklahoma State, earned a spot on the 24-person preseason all-conference team, as did teammates Shyra James and Faith Leyba.
The Buffs finished fourth in the league’s preseason coaches poll, earning 174 points. BYU (206 points) knocked Texas Tech (205) out of first place, while TCU filled the top three spots (197). CU secured the top spot among the league’s four freshmen from the Pac-12, Arizona State finished fifth (157 points), and Utah and Arizona tied for 10th (94).
League coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or players in the poll.
Nytes was named the Big 12’s co-goalkeeper of the year before transferring as a true freshman in 2022. Nytes recorded eight shutouts last year and enters the season with 14 in her career. James, a fifth-year senior, enters the season on the verge of breaking the program’s career scoring records, and her totals of 15 goals and 32 points in 2023 rank second among CU’s all-time season bests. Leyba was named a third-team all-conference selection in the Pac-12 last year and also earned a spot on the league’s All-Freshman Team after leading the Buffs in minutes played (1,772).
“Jordi, Faith and Shyra had fantastic seasons in 2023 and we are pleased the coaches recognized them,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said in a press release. “I know they are looking forward to the new challenges in the Big 12.”
CU opens the season at home against Marquette on August 15 and plays its first Big 12 game on September 12 at Kansas State.
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