The Butler women's soccer team is picked to finish second in the 2018 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, an announcement made by the BIG EAST office on Thursday, Aug. 9. Two Bulldogs also earned Preseason All-BIG EAST honors. After a vote from the league's 10 head coaches, Paige Monaghan was a unanimous selection for the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year.  Defender Annika Schmidt joined Monaghan on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
 
Butler returns nine starters from a 2017 team that posted a 13-2-6 overall record and made their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs finished second in the BIG EAST and earned the first at-large bid in program history to the NCAA Tournament. Butler is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. Georgetown, the 2017 BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion, is picked to finish first.
 
The Hoyas collected nine of the ten first place votes to top the preseason poll with 81 points. The Bulldogs received the other first place vote and landed comfortably in second with 72 points. Marquette landed in third with 59 points, just ahead of Providence who received 55. Rounding out the top five is DePaul with 52 points.
 
St. John's finished sixth (38) and Xavier finished seventh (34). Villanova (31), Creighton (18), and Seton Hall (10) are the final three teams.
 
Monaghan, the 2017 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, led the league in shots (33), points (18), goals (8) and game-winning goals (3) over nine BIG EAST games. The Second Team All-American selection had three multi-goal games throughout the season and also earned First Team All-Midwest Region honors. She is a unanimous selection for the 2018 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
 
Schmidt was a 2017 All-BIG EAST First Team selection after anchoring a Bulldog back line that only allowed seven goals last season. The redshirt junior saw action in all 18 games for the Bulldogs, scoring one goal and dishing out an assist. She also landed on the 2017 All-Midwest Region Team.
 
The 2018 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team included four Hoyas, two Bulldogs, two Friars, one Blue Demon, and one Johnnie. Samantha Dewey of Xavier and Carrie Madden of Marquette were also on the squad. Extra players were added to the preseason team due to a tie in voting.  Monaghan, Madden, and Depaul's Franny Cerny were each unanimous selections.
 
 
BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Paige Monaghan, Butler, Sr., F*
BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Meaghan Nally, Georgetown, Jr., D
BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Arielle Schechtman, Georgetown, Grad., GK
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team^
Paige Monaghan, Butler, Sr., F*
Annika Schmidt, Butler, R-Jr., D
Franny Cerny, DePaul, Sr., F*
Amanda Carolan, Georgetown, Sr., F
Caitlin Farrell, Georgetown, Sr., F
Meaghan Nally, Georgetown, Jr., D
Arielle Schechtman, Georgetown, Grad., GK
Carrie Madden, Marquette, R-Sr., F*
Katie Day, Providence, Sr., D
Kayla Steeves, Providence, Sr., M
Christina Bellero, St. John's, Jr., F
Samantha Dewey, Xavier, R-Jr., F
^extra player added due to a tie in voting
*unanimous selection
 
BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll

Georgetown (9)	81
Butler (1)	72
Marquette	59
Providence	55
DePaul	52
St. John's	38
Xavier	34
Villanova	31
Creighton	18
Seton Hall	10

(first-place votes)