TCU Soccer Receives Preseason Honors As Season Set To Start This Week
This week, the TCU women’s soccer team will take the pitch to begin the 2022 season in hopes of defending their Big 12 regular season and tournament championships from last year.
Before the season gets underway, the team and several players have received some preseason honors. For the first time in TCU program history, the team was selected as the favorite in the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
TCU earned seven first-place votes and 78 points, while Texas (66), West Virginia (60), Texas Tech (53), and Oklahoma State (49) placed in the top five. Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia each earned one first-place vote.
The Horned Frogs capped the 2021 season with a second consecutive Big 12 regular season title before winning their first Big 12 Championship postseason crown. TCU and Texas earned postseason rankings and represented the Big 12 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
In addition to the team honor, four players from the TCU squad – Messiah Bright, Gracie Brian, Lauren Kellett, and Camryn Lancaster - were selected to the Big 12 All-Preseason Team. TCU’s four selections to the team led all schools in the league.
In addition, Bright, Brian, and Kellett were named to the United Soccer Coaches Division 1 Players to Watch List for their respective positions.
Bright garnered Forward to Watch honors after a historic 40-point season with the Horned Frogs. She tallied a school-record 17 goals and added six assists. She was named a United Soccer Coaches 1st-team All-American and was also recognized as a semifinalist for the prestigious Mac Hermann Trophy Award. Most recently, Bright was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Preseason Best XI Team. A reigning 1st-team All-Big 12 selection, Bright enters the season as TCU's all-time leader in goals (39) and points (92).
Messiah Bright
Another 1st-team All-Big 12 selection last season, Brian finished last third in total points on the team with a career-high 28 points (9G, 10A). She recorded the first hat trick for the program since 2018 and tallied seven points against Prairie View A&M. Brian notched three game-winners and played the entirety of nine games over the course of the season. She was also named a 2021 United Soccer Coaches 2nd-team Academic All-American.
Gracie Brian
Kellett is one of 13 players from across the country and the only student-athlete from the Big 12 Conference to be tabbed as a Goalkeeper to Watch. The junior started all 24 games last season for the Frogs and posted an 18-2-3 record. She finished the season only allowing 13 goals while also setting the school record for shutouts with 10. Kellett wrapped up her sophomore season, finishing fourth nationally in save percentage (.867) and eighth in goals against average (.560). She made 85 total saves and combined for 13 shutouts on the season.
She garnered Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Year honors and helped lead the Frogs to their first-ever Big 12 Tournament title. Kellett was named the Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week (Oct. 19, 2021) and also earned United Soccer Coaches 1st-team All-Midwest Region honors.
Lauren Kellett
An All-Big 12 freshman team selection last season, Lancaster ranked fourth among freshmen and tied for 33rd nationally with 30 points. She notched 12 assists on the year, breaking a single-season TCU record. Lancaster was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team after scoring the game-winning goal against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game.
Camryn Lancaster
Next up: The TCU soccer team begins the 2022 season on Thursday, August 18, with a match against the Wisconsin Badgers. The match will be at 7 p.m. at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium in Fort Worth and can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+. TCU begins the season ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. It is the first time the Frogs will kick off the season at home since 2018. Under head coach Eric Bell, TCU is 4-4-2 in home openers since 2012.
Wisconsin and TCU have squared off twice, with the Badgers holding a 2-0-0 series record. The last meeting was in 1990 in Fort Worth. Wisconsin was picked to finish fourth in the Big 10 Preseason Poll and finished last year 10-6-6.
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