The defending national champion Stanford women's soccer team opens the season ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll it was announced Tuesday.

The Cardinal earned 34 of 35 first-place votes with UCLA, Duke, Penn State and South Carolina rounding out the top five.

Six of Stanford's 2018 opponents are ranked in the poll: UCLA (2), North Carolina (6), USC (12), Notre Dame (14), Santa Clara (19) and Washington State (21).

Stanford was also picked to finish first in the Pac-12, collecting 11 of 12 first place votes in the coaches' poll. Stanford's 121 points sits atop the poll ahead of UCLA (109), USC (98), California (90), Colorado (74) and Arizona (67).

Since Paul Ratcliffe took the coaching reigns in 2003, Stanford owns a 118-20-11 record in Pac-12 play, while the Cardinal's 44-match conference win streak from 2008-13 is the third-longest in NCAA Division I history.