A new women’s Division I season begins this week, with one question swirling above the national title contenders: can anyone catch Stanford?

While there is an impressive amount of talent heading to DI programs, last fall’s national champions start the season looking as imperious as ever.

Obviously there is much more to the college campaign than one team, and TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Best XI shapes out what is projected to be the best talent in the upcoming campaign. Based off a variety of factors, the 2018 preseason Best XI teams can be found below, with three upperclassmen sides and a freshman team included.

Preseason Best XI Teams

First Team

F: Deyna Castellanos (Florida State), Catarina Macario (Stanford), CeCe Kizer (Mississippi)

M: Jessie Fleming (UCLA), Katie Cousins (Tennessee), Emily Ogle (Penn State), Ella Stevens (Duke)

D: Kaleigh Riehl (Penn State), Tierna Davidson (Stanford), Grace Fisk (South Carolina)

GK: Vera Varis (UCF)

Second Team

F: Evelyne Viens (South Florida), Khadija Shaw (Tennessee), Hailie Mace (UCLA)

M: Dorian Bailey (North Carolina), Paige Monaghan (Butler), Jordan DiBiasi (Stanford), Tziarra King (NC State)

D: Alana Cook (Stanford), Ally Prisock (USC), Kayla Sharples (Northwestern)

GK: Rylee Foster (West Virginia)

Third Team

F: Ashley Sanchez (UCLA), Natalie Jacobs (USC), Kayla McCoy (Duke)

M: Marisa Viggiano (Northwestern), Julie James (Baylor), Victoria Pickett (Wisconsin), Taylor Kornieck (Colorado)

D: Tegan McGrady (Stanford), Allie Klug (Saint Louis), Kaiya McCullough (UCLA)

GK: Mikayla Krzeczowski (South Carolina)

Freshman Team

F: Sophia Smith (Stanford), Summer Yates (Washington), Rebecca Jarrett (Virginia)

M: Yujie Zhao (Florida State), Maricarmen Reyes (UCLA), Eva Van Deursen (Arizona State), Allison Schlegel (Penn State)

D: Delaney Graham (Duke), Anna Lawler (Oklahoma State), Emma Regan (Texas)

GK: Hensley Hancuff (Villanova)

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