UCO Athletics
Chris Brannick
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Central Oklahoma soccer team is ranked No. 10 in the country in the United Soccer Coaches preseason coaches’ poll ahead of the 2021 season.
Central Oklahoma did not play last fall due to the pandemic but did play an unofficial spring season that ended with the Bronchos 8-4-1 and champions of the MIAA’s postseason tournament. UCO returns 12 letterwinners from the 2019 squad that last played an official game and 20 that played during the 2020-21 year.
UCO, led by 24th year head coach Mike Cook, who is among the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history, begins the 2021 season Thursday, Sept. 2 at Dallas Baptist, which appeared at No. 7 in Wednesday’s preseason poll.
Cook is the only head soccer coach in Central’s history and has posted 323 victories for the Bronchos since 1998.
Central Oklahoma also enters the new year winners of the past three MIAA postseason tournaments. After winning the regular season MIAA title in 2018, Central also won the postseason title, then won the postseason tournament as the fourth-seed in 2019 before winning the tournament this past spring.