FRESNO, Calif. - With the 2024 women's soccer season set to begin next week, the Mountain West released its preseason Players to Watch on Wednesday. The list includes Fresno State seniors Julia Hardwick, Jordan Lau and Kaelyn Miller.
Missing the end of the 2021 season due to a knee injury, and more than half of the 2022 due to recovery, Hardwick started all 20 games in 2023 at center back. The fifth-year senior from Clovis, Calif. played a team-high 1,752 minutes. Hardwick played all 90 minutes in 15 matches. Ten of those 12 games came against MW opponents.
Alongside Hardwick in the central defense last season was Lau. The senior from Honolulu, Hawai'i has started all 50 games she has played in during her three-year career. Last season, she played in all 20 matches, seeing 1,700 minutes on the pitch.
Miller enters her final season ranking 10th in program history in career goals with 18. All but one of those goals have come against MW opponents. She has led the conference in goals in MW matches twice in her career (2021 - 6; 2023 - 8). The native of El Dorado Hills, Calif. is the only Bulldog since 2017 to score at least eight goals in a season, doing so twice.
Fresno State opens the 2024 season at Cal Poly on Aug. 18. The Bulldogs host their home opener on Aug. 22 against Weber State. Season tickets are available HERE.