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Sports

UCLA Soccer Picked to Win Conference

The men's team is the preseason favorite; women's team slated for second.

With all 11 starters from last season returning, the UCLA men's soccer team is the coaches' choice to win the Pac-12 Conference this season. The Bruins open the season August 27 at Louisville.

UCLA was picked first last season too, but wound up in second place behind California with a 16-5-1 overall record and an 8-2-0 mark in conference play. The Bruins advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. 

Coaches awarded five points to the team they thought would finish first (excluding their own), four points for the second-place team and so on down. UCLA earned the maximum 25 points, followed by Cal (21), Washington (16), San Diego State (13), Stanford (10) and Oregon State (5).

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In the women's preseason coaches' poll, UCLA was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 behind Stanford. The Bruins were fourth last season with a 13-8-2 overall record and a 5-4 conference mark. They lost to Stanford 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament's round of 16. 

Stanford was awarded 11 of the 12 first-place votes, with Oregon State receiving the last and being picked third. USC was picked to finish fourth, followed by Washington, Cal, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.   

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UCLA won its lone exhibition match 4-1 on Saturday over Cal State Bakersfield and opens the season August 19 at Cal State Northridge.

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