Wayne State College was picked to finish ninth in the 2025 NSIC Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches Poll released Thursday morning by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota.  Senior forward Alaina Sorensen was tabbed as Wayne State's Offensive Player to Watch this season while sophomore defender Addison Walker was listed as the Defensive Player to Watch. 
            The 'Cats garnered 116 points in voting conducted by league coaches and are coming off a 2024 campaign with records of 7-7-5 overall and 6-4-4 in the NSIC.  It was just the second trip to the NSIC Tournament for the Wildcats since the 2006 season and first since 2019.    
            Defending NSIC regular season and tournament champion Minnesota State, who was the 2024 NCAA national runner-up last season, was voted the team to beat in the NSIC this year collecting 224 points and 14 first-place votes followed by Concordia-St. Paul in second at 202 and one first-place ballot.  Bemidji State edged St. Cloud State for third place 177-176 with SCSU getting the last first-place vote and Augustana was fifth in the poll at 169 points.
            University of Mary was sixth with 159 points while Northern State (136), Minot State (128), Wayne State (116) and Winona State (95) rounded out the top 10 teams. 
            Sorensen, a 5-5 senior forward from Sioux Falls, S.D. (Lincoln HS), was an All-NSIC Second Team selection after leading the Wildcats in goals this season (7) and points (15).  She notched a team-best three game-winning goals and had 24 shots and a team-leading 17 shots on goal this season for the Wildcats last season. 
            Walker, a 5-10 sophomore defender from Omaha (Gretna HS), anchored a Wildcat defense last season that registered eight shutouts last season.  She started 18 of 19 matches last year and ranked second on the team in minutes played with 1,581 while recording two assists. 
            Wayne State opens the 2025 season on Sunday, September 5^th with a non-conference contest at William Jewell College in Missouri at 12 p.m.
 
2025 NSIC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
1.         Minnesota State (14)                  224 pts.
2.         Concordia-St. Paul (4)               202 pts.
3.         Bemidji State                             177 pts.
4.         St. Cloud State (1)                     176 pts.
5.         Augustana                                169 pts.
6.         University of Mary                     159 pts.
7.         Northern State                          136 pts.
8.         Minot State                               128 pts.
9.         Wayne State                             116 pts.
10.        Winona State                            95 pts.
11.        Minnesota Duluth                       83 pts.
12.        Southwest Minnesota State        64 pts.
13.        Jamestown                               59 pts.
14.        Sioux Falls                                59 pts.
15.        MSU Moorhead                         37 pts.
16.        Minnesota Crookston                22 pts.
                        first place votes in ( )