Nutzman And Bachman Named To Preseason All-SoCon Team
8/10/2026 3:32:00 PM | Women's Soccer
The preseason coaches poll was also released Monday and Mercer was picked to finish sixth in the now 11-team conference.
Mercer was one of just three teams (Samford and ETSU) to have multiple Preseason All-Conference players. The Preseason All-Conference team is made up of 12 players as voted by the 11 head coaches in the conference.
This is the first Preseason All-Conference recognition for both Nutzman and Bachman.
As a freshman midfielder last year, Nutzman started all 13 games played in before suffering a season ending injury on Oct. 5. She finished the season with seven goals, five assists and 19 points. Her five assists led the team and her 19 points and seven goals were second most on the team. Nutzman finished in the top 10 among all SoCon players in points (7th), goals (8th) and assists (7th). She scored her first career goal against Alabama State on Aug. 31. She finished the game with three goals and one assist for seven points. It was her season high in goals and points.
Bachman enters this season as an experienced senior defender for the Bears. Last season, she started all 20 games, while playing the sixth most minutes on the team with 1,566 minutes (78.3 minutes per game). She finished the season with four assists which was tied for the second most on the team. Also, three of her four assists were on game-winning goals. Bachman took a career high 22 shots with 11 on goal which led all Mercer defenders. She was a key piece of Mercer's back line that shutout seven opponents last year. In her career, Bachman has two goals and 13 assists.
2026 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Samford (10) 100
2. Furman (1) 80
ETSU 80
4. Western Carolina 68
5. Chattanooga 67
6. Mercer 66
7. UNCG 43
8. Tennessee Tech 40
9. Wofford 32
10. The Citadel 19
11. VMI 10
() denotes first-place votes
2026 Women's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
F Reagan Fitzgerald, ETSU
F Norah Roller, Furman
F Sam De Luca, Samford
F Quinn Johnson, Chattanooga
MF Georgia Shields, ETSU
MF Payton Nutzman, Mercer
MF Rina Ogimoto, UNCG
D Ella Parker, ETSU
D Anna Bachman, Mercer
D Caroline Smith, Samford
D Mary Mueth, Western Carolina
GK Peyton Hull, Samford
