ARLINGTON, Texas – Seattle U narrowly edged defending champion California Baptist as the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason favorite in the 2024 WAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll that was released on Friday.
 
Seattle U received six first-place votes and 76 voting points to finish atop the preseason predicted order of finish based on polling of the WAC’s 10 men’s soccer head coaches. CBU added three first-place votes and 72 points to check in second. San Diego State (58 points), San José State (50 points) and UNLV (47 points) rounded out the top five teams in the predicted order of finish, while Utah Valley received the 10th first-place vote.
 
San José State junior midfielder Angel Iniguez was voted the 2024 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches. Iniguez was a first-team all-conference midfield selection in 2023 after scoring seven goals and adding six assists over 17 matches to tie for fourth in the WAC with 20 points as a sophomore. Iniguez tallied three goals and an assist across eight conference matches last season, which included a two-goal performance in the final game of the regular season on Oct. 26.
 
San Diego State sophomore defender Reid Fisher was tabbed the 2024 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Fisher captured Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors and was tabbed as a College Soccer News Freshman All-America First-Team performer last season in his debut campaign with the Aztecs. Fisher started all 18 matches for San Diego State and helped anchor a back line that produced eight team clean sheets, including seven straight to open the 2023 season.
 
Seattle U redshirt junior Charlie Lanphier was chosen as the 2024 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year after a breakout showing for the Redhawks last season. Lanphier was voted the 2023 WAC Goalkeeper of the Year after logging a 10-3-2 record and a 1.11 goals against average over 16 matches. Lanphier ranked second in the WAC in GAA and in solo shutouts with five across all matches, posting a conference-best 0.75 GAA in league play.
 
Seattle U led all WAC teams with three players on the 2024 preseason all-conference team, followed by two players each from CBU and San Diego State. Grand Canyon, UNLV, San José State and Utah Valley were also represented.
 
2024 WAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
 

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Seattle U (6)	76
2.	California Baptist (3)	72
3.	San Diego State	58
4.	San José State	50
5.	UNLV	47
6.	Grand Canyon	45
7.	Utah Valley (1)	36
8.	Utah Tech	33
9.	UTRGV	21
10.	Air Force	12

 
2024 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Angel Iniguez, Jr., MF, San José State
2024 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Reid Fisher, So., D, San Diego State
2024 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year: Charlie Lanphier, R-Jr., Seattle U
 
2024 Preseason All-WAC Team
GK – Charlie Lanphier, R-Jr., Seattle U
D – Louis Hiepen, Grad, UNLV
D – Reid Fisher, So., San Diego State
D – Jaden Manetta, Sr., Seattle U
D – Tom Dobek-Pietrowski, Grad, Utah Valley
MF – Stavros Charalampous, So., California Baptist
MF – Angel Iniguez, Jr., San José State
MF – Taketo Onodera, Grad, Seattle U
F – Leo Mendez, Grad, California Baptist
F – Bright Nutornutsi, Jr., Grand Canyon
F – Austin Brummett, Jr., San Diego State