DALLAS – After proving themselves with a run to the NCAA tournament last season, the Aggies are gearing up for a new challenge: doing it a second time. Their performance in 2022 has earned the team respect from around their new conference, as CUSA revealed their preseason poll and preseason all-conference team on Thursday morning. Both the preseason poll and the Preseason All-CUSA Women's Soccer Team were voted on by the league's nine head coaches. 
 
In total, NM State garnered five individual honors in addition to being selected to finish second in the preseason team poll. Notably, the Aggies top attacker from one season ago, Loma McNeese, was named Preseason All-CUSA Offensive Player of the Year. Mya Hammack and Bianca Chacon were also honored for their talent by being named to the preseason team.
 
Additionally, the conference also announced that it has posthumously named Thalia Chaverria to the preseason all-league team. Chaverria was a force on the back line in 2022 for an Aggie team who earned more wins than any team in program history.
 
In the CUSA Preseason Poll, the Aggies were picked second in the conference, tallying three out of a possible nine first-place votes. Fellow first-year conference member Liberty was chosen to top CUSA after recording a 14-3-4 record in 2022 and finishing last season 48^th in the country in the RPI rankings.
 
Senior Midfielder Loma McNeese was voted the CUSA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. In 2022, she started all 21 games, led NM State in goals (10) while notching five assists, totaling 25 points en route to an All-WAC First Team selection. With this distinction, she becomes the first Aggie to be selected for any Preseason Player of the Year Award in the history of the NM State program. Being chosen as the top offensive player in the conference made the Sherwood, Ore., one of four forwards named to the Preseason All-CUSA Team.
 
Joining McNeese on the all-conference list is junior midfielder Bianca Chacon who returns to Las Cruces following a season in which she was a fixture in the starting lineup for all 21 games during the 2022 campaign. On the season, Chacon tallied nine assists to rank second in the WAC while also scoring five goals of her own – good for second most on the Aggies' squad.
 
The league's head coaches also believe junior defender Mya Hammack is poised for another big year after serving as a leader on the Aggie defense during their historic season. Like Chacon and McNeese, Hammack was one of just six Aggies to land in the starting lineup for every match last season. In addition to her defensive presence, Hammack also scored one goal and finished the year with three assists.
The complete list of awards that the conference released can be found below.
 
2023 CUSA Preseason Poll

Rank	School (first-place votes)	Total
1.	Liberty (5)	58
2.	NM State (3)	55
3.	LA Tech (1)	45
4.	WKU	43
5.	FIU	35
6.	MTSU	26
7.	UTEP	25
8.	Sam Houston	21
9.	Jacksonville State	16

 
2023 CUSA Women's Soccer Preseason Team

Pos.	Name, School	Year	Hometown
GK	Ainsley Leja, Liberty	Jr.	Rockford, Mich.
D	Josie Studer, LA Tech	Gr.	Waxhaw, N.C.
D	Bridie Herman, Liberty	Gr.	Springboro, Ohio
D	Caroline Manley, MTSU	Gr.	Arlington, Tenn.
D	Mya Hammack, NM State	Jr.	Aurora, Ore.
D	Thalia Chaverria, NM State	Jr.	Bakersfield, Calif.
MF	Rachel DeRuby, Liberty	Sr.	Oneida, N.Y.
MF	Saydie Holland, Liberty	Gr.	Waverly, Tenn.
MF	Bianca Chacon, NM State	Jr.	El Paso, Texas
MF	Ambere Barnett, WKU	Gr.	Rockport, Ind.
F	Nikole Solis, FIU	Jr.	Boca Raton, Fla.
F	Flavie Dube, LA Tech	So.	Ottawa, Canada
F	Ivy Garner, Liberty	So.	Hillsborough, N.C.
F	Loma McNeese, NM State	Sr.	Sherwood, Ore.

 
The Aggies 2023 season will unofficially begin on Thursday evening as they host Cochise College at the NM State Soccer Athletic Complex. The exhibition match is set to kick off at 7 p.m. with free admission.
 
For complete coverage of NM State Soccer, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWSOC), Instagram (@NMStateWSOC), and like us on Facebook (NMStateWSOC).