Previews Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Below is a team-by-team preview for the 2025 MAC Women’s Soccer season, which begins today, Aug. 14. Conference #MACtion is slated to begin on Sunday, Sept. 14. 

For the first time in conference history, the MAC Women’s Soccer Championship will be played at a neutral site, as the 2025 and 2026 tournaments will be hosted at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

The 2025 MAC Women’s Soccer Championship is set to open on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, with a pair of quarterfinal matches. Semifinal matches are slated for Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, before the championship match on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

Quarterfinal and semifinal matches will begin at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, while the championship game is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start.

Team-By-Team Previews (In Preseason Coaches Poll Predicted Order)
1. Western Michigan Broncos
Coming off of a historic season, Western Michigan has a wealth of talent returning in 2025. The Broncos return key pieces, including Madi Canada, Mira Pierre-Webster, Heidi Thomasma and Abby Werthman. 

Canada, Thomasma and Werthman were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Team in 2024, and the trio also earned All-MAC honors. Werthman is the team's leading returning scorer, finishing last season with 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists. Canada led all midfielders in scoring, collecting eight points on one goal and six assists. 

Pierre-Webster returns after missing the 2024 season due to injury. However, she was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and played every minute during that season. 

For the second consecutive season, Western Michigan opens the year as the preseason favorite in the MAC. The league's preseason coaches poll was released on Tuesday, with the Brown and Gold leading the way with 135 points and eight first-place votes. 

WMU has won back-to-back conference regular season championships and hasn't lost a game in conference play over the last two seasons. In that time frame, the Broncos are 16-0-6. 

Buffalo (128 points, 4 FPV), Ohio (123), UMass (114, 1 FPV) and Bowling Green (93) rounded out the top five of the poll. The Broncos beat Buffalo in last year's MAC Tournament championship game.

After leading the NCAA in points last season, Jen Blitchok graduated and moved on to professional soccer, leaving the Broncos with big shoes to fill. 

With that, WMU went out and secured three forwards from the transfer portal. Mikayla Coore-Pascal (Kansas), Kiya Gilliand (Wisconsin) and Justina L'Esperance (Northern Michigan) joined the program this summer, looking to help the Broncos maintain the MAC's top offense.

Gilliand scored in an exhibition win over Purdue Fort Wayne and L'Esperance has 71 points on 29 goals and 13 assists in her career. Coore-Pascal played in four games for the Jayhawks last season.

2. Buffalo Bulls
Buffalo returns 17 players, including eight starters, from last season and welcome 10 freshmen and one transfer to a team that went 11-2-7 and advanced to the MAC Tournament championship game for the second time in two years.

The strength of this year's squad will once again be the UB backline, anchored by the experienced core of Frederique St.-Jean, Maya Galko and Ellie Simmons, which led the league and ranked in the top 20 nationally in goals against average (.70) save percentage (.848) and shutout percentage (.550). Junior Eva Blatz and sophomore Julia Rocky will also add to the backline depth while seniors Ashley Reyes and Marissa Foster and sophomore Maya Ikewood will look to help bolster the midfield.

Offensively, the Bulls return their top goal scorer from a year ago in Jasmine Guerber who notched six goals and an assist. Senior Sarah Woods looks to put an exclamation point on her UB career after a breakthrough junior campaign in which she recorded career-highs in goals (2), assists (4), points (8) and total shots (27) and sophomore Carolyn Hinkle will look to take on a bigger scoring role following a rookie season that saw her earn All-Freshman team honors.

The Bulls will be led between the pipes by 2024 MAC Goalkeeper of the Year Lexie Thompson who received All-MAC First Team and Third Team All-Region honors after leading the MAC and ranked in the top 25 in the nation in shutouts (11), goals against average (0.70) and save percentage (.841), while also recording 74 saves. Graduate student Isabella Simoncelli and freshman Casey Loughran round out the UB goalkeeping unit.

Buffalo will also lead on a talented group of newcomers this fall, including Oklahoma transfer Koby Commandant and a group of 10 freshmen who will all look to make an immediate impact in their first seasons in the blue and white.

3. Ohio Bobcats
Last season, the Ohio women's soccer team was one game away from making it back to the Mid-American Conference Championship game for the second-straight season. After a loss to Buffalo in the semifinal, Ohio will be looking to bounce back and make it to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years during the 2025 season. 
 
"I have high expectations for this team, and they have high expectations for themselves," Ohio head coach Aaron Rodgers said. "We just have to go out there and live that expectation out on a daily basis." 
 
Rodgers sees this team as one of the most experienced he's ever coached. Of the 28 players on the roster, 11 are seniors and 16 are upperclassmen. Almost every player that Ohio will start has had experience playing in Athens and playing with each other. 
 
Not only does the team have experience, Rodgers also sees this team as one of the most talented he has ever coached. With so many players that have been with Ohio for so long, Rodgers is looking for his veteran leadership to combine all the best qualities of some of Ohio's best teams in recent memory. 
 
"Our team in 2021, we were so close to winning the regular season and coming down to that very last game, and that team was talented, but I think this team is more talented," Rodgers said. "That team just really fought together. They were really close and tight-knit. The team in 23, we were just so resilient, never gave up, never got down on ourselves, and kept fighting until the end. Last year's team was very talented, but it was a tough game at the end against a very good Buffalo team in the semifinal. I think this team could put those things together and do really well."
 
Among Ohio's best returning players are four of its top five goal scorers from the 2024 season in Jaimason Brooker, Scout Murray, Rayann Pruss and Ella Deevers. The Bobcats also return senior goalkeeper Celeste Sloma and leading defenders Quinten Tostevin, Sarah Helphenstine and Norah Roush. 
 
Rodgers is excited about his incoming freshman class, but with an experienced team, there may not be a lot of available minutes for new players on the 2025 team. 

4. UMass Minutewomen
Massachusetts returns 16 players from last season's team, as graduate students Sarah DeFreitas and Macy Graves rejoins the Minutewomen for the 2025 season.

Additionally, UMass welcomes 12 newcomers for the 2025 campaign. The group features redshirt senior Emma Burke, sophomore Peyton Costello, and freshmen Ella Casagrande-Stevens, Skye Cuscuna, Amelia Deren, Pepper Escher, Chloe Kundra, Kayla Nohasiarisoa, Piersen Rawlin, Kaila Steen, Lexi Terry and Aline Traber.

UMass finished last season with a 13-5-3 overall record and a 6-2-2 mark in conference play. Massachusetts shut out nine opponents, including six at Rudd Field. In the Atlantic 10 Championships, the third-seeded Minutewomen reached the A-10 Finals, falling 3-1 to the number one seed, Saint Louis.

After the first match of the season against St John's, Massachusetts will compete in five other non-conference games. The Minutewomen will face Harvard (Aug. 24) and Boston College (Sept. 7) at Rudd, while taking on NJIT (Aug. 21), Dartmouth (Aug. 28) and UMass Lowell (Aug. 31) on the road.

UMass begins MAC competition with a home match against Ball State (Sept. 14), while also facing Northern Illinois (Sept. 28), Buffalo (Oct. 9), Eastern Michigan (Oct. 12), Ohio (Oct. 26) and Bowling Green (Oct. 29) at Rudd Field. Massachusetts will travel to Akron (Sept. 18), Kent State (Sept. 25), Western Michigan (Oct. 2), Central Michigan (Oct. 5), Miami (OH) (Oct. 16) and Toledo (Oct. 19).

5. Bowling Green Falcons
The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team begins the 2025 regular-season schedule with a three-match homestand, including a pair of contests this week. Head coach Chris Fox and the Falcons begin with a Thursday (Aug. 14) matchup against Oakland University. That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. Admission is free to all BGSU home soccer matches.

Head coach Chris Fox and his staff – first-year assistant coaches Steven Samuel and Kyle Pettican – have a total of 20 returning student-athletes on the 2025 roster. That group includes seven starters from a year ago.

Six of the top-nine point-scorers from that 2024 club return, including junior Emma Stransky, who had the most goals (four) and points (10) among the returning players.

Fellow juniors Emme Butera and Taylor Green are also back after each player started all 18 matches a year ago. Butera had seven points en route to earning All-Mid-American Conference Second-Team honors, while Green anchored a BG back line that kept six clean sheets.

Another junior, Michelle Hochstadt, led the Falcons with five assists in her first season in Northwest Ohio. The Morehead State transfer made 12 starts in '24.

In goal, Payton O'Malley returns after starting the final nine matches of her freshman season and recording a 1.56 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts. Fellow sophomore Haley Wolf also started nine contests, including the final eight matches, and joined O'Malley on the MAC's All-Freshman Team.

BGSU finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 7-7-4 and a MAC ledger of 4-4-3. The Falcons finished in sixth place in the 12-team conference. The Falcons went 4-1-3 at home and 3-6-1 on the road in 2024.

The 2025 roster includes no fewer than 14 players who did not see action for the Orange and Brown last fall. The group of nine newcomers includes five NCAA Division-I transfers and four true freshmen. Additionally, five Falcons – Christie Fransen, Audrey Oliver, Ellie Pool, Jayna Searles and Minah Syam – missed the entire 2024 campaign due to injury. Pool, a sixth-year collegian, has scored 39 total points in 56 collegiate matches.

6. Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State Soccer kicks off their 2025 season this Thursday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. on the road against the Cleveland State University Vikings.

Coach Rob Marinaro returns 16 from a Golden Flashes squad that posted an overall record of 9-7-3. KSU finished the 2024 season with a Mid-American Conference record of 5-4-2 finishing the regular season in fourth place. The Flashes eliminated Miami (OH) in the first round of the MAC tournament prior to falling to Western Michigan in the second.

A veteran presence returns on the defensive side of the pitch including Kelsey Solopek, Abby Breitschuh, Savannah Holmes, and Ava Todd. Taylor English, Ava Lukyan, Katir Henahan, Samantha Miller hold down the midfield and are poised to take leading roles for Kent State.

The Flashes also welcome ten newcomers to campus, eight freshmen and two transfers. Kiyomi McCausland (Geroge Mason University), Morgan Flippin (Stetson University), Ciara Santiago, Isabelle Leofanti, Mia Cleroux, Gauri Rawat Maya Justice, Mira Horner, Alexa Muth, and Jolie Mondoux will all look to make an immediate impact on the field.

7. Miami RedHawks
Preview coming soon. 

8. Northern Illinois Huskies
NIU is coming off a 9-5-5 record in 2024 as the Huskies posted their most victories since the 2010 season. NIU scored 29 goals a season ago, its highest number since 1998. Tyra King (Menifee, Calif./Metea Valley) tallied eight goals last year and earned Second Team All-MAC and Second Team All-Region recognition. Earlier this week, King was named to the NCAA Division I Forwards to Watch List by the United Soccer Coaches.

In total, NIU returns 21 goals from a season ago, with Kelsi McLaughlin (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) adding four to King's eight in her first season at NIU after joining the Huskies from Illinois State.

The Huskies were picked eighth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll, which was announced on Tuesday (Aug. 12). Western Michigan was selected as the preseason favorite in the conference. 

9. Eastern Michigan Eagles
With the match against Cincinnati, Aug. 14, Eastern starts the season at home for the seventh-straight season, a streak that is tied for fourth in the nation.

With the match against the Big 12's Cincinnati, Aug. 14, the Eagles host a Power Four opponent for the first time since battling Syracuse University, Sept. 1, 2022.

EMU enters the season opener on a two-match winning streak while producing three-straight clean sheets, both among the nation's best.

The Eagles return 14/36 players (39%) but bring back 12/15 (80%) of its goals scored (losing just the three scored by Maddie O'Farrell) as well as 71% of its minutes played.

Eastern looks to keep a few trends from the 2024 season, which included a 4-0 start for the first time since 1999 and a 5-0-3 home record, the second undefeated home slate with the other being 1999, EMU's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coach Taylor Clarke is in his second season at the helm of the Eagles. Joining Clarke on staff are Associate Head Coach Matt Hinds (second season), Assistant Coach Meg Nemnich (first season), and Goalkeeping Coach Zach Shuk (second season).

Eastern Michigan is tied for sixth nationally in longest active winning steak and fourth nationally in longest active clean streak.
 
In total, Eastern is one of 28 schools to close the 2024 season with a win and one of 40 schools to close last season with a clean sheet. The Eagles are one of eight teams to win consecutive matches to finish 2024 and one of six schools to conclude last season with at least three-straight shutouts.

10. Toledo Rockets
The women's soccer team begins the 2025 season with a pair of road matches, traveling to Eastern Kentucky and Cincinnati. The Rockets return 13 letterwinners from a season ago and welcome 15 newcomers to the roster, including 10 freshmen and five transfers.

Soccer opens home play at Paul Hotmer Field against Oakland on Sunday, Aug. 24.

11. Ball State Cardinals
The Ball State soccer team plays in its second and final exhibition of the 2025 season when it hosts Holy Cross (Ind.) at 4 p.m. on Thursday at the Briner Sports Complex.

The Cardinals played Wright State on Sunday and will open up the regular season at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17 against Purdue in Muncie.

Thursday's promotion is Faculty Appreciation Day, where nominated professors will be recognized at halftime.

Head coach Andy Stoots enters his first season leading the program after recent stints at Missouri and Louisville.

12. Central Michigan Chippewas
Central Michigan enters 2025 with an overhauled roster thanks to a 15-player senior class in 2024, adding seven true freshmen and eight transfers during the offseason.

The captain trio of juniors Grace Baczek, Rachel Jackson and Caitlin Gill headline the returners as they combined for 47 starts in 2024. Senior Gabriella Sapia and sophomore Ella Betzold support the trio as 2024 newcomers that combined for nearly 2,000 minutes on the pitch.

CMU added in an international presence to the roster after 2024 marked the first time in over 20 years that there was not at least one foreign-born Chippewa. The group features representatives from Australia, England and Mexico, with the latter two represented for the first time in program history.

Size will play a key role for the Chippewas as nine players measure in at or above five-foot-seven, seven of which belong to the 15-player newcomer group.

CMU opens at home for the first time since 2013 on Thursday against Butler, the first time under seventh-year Head Coach Jeremy Groves. The Chippewas are 2-2-1 when opening the season at home since the inaugural 1998 season, looking for the program's first outright victory in a season-opener since 2016.

13. Akron Zips
The Zips open their 2025 season on Thursday (Aug. 14) at Purdue Fort Wayne before welcoming Eastern Illinois to FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday (Aug. 17).

The Zips under the leadership of first-year head coach Maggie Kuhn return six starters in 2025, including sophomores Kailyn Biecker (Wadsworth, Ohio) and Olivia Heskett (Lewis Center, Ohio), senior Emma King (Akron, Ohio), junior Jordanne Oberhaus (Wadsworth, Ohio), sophomore Kaitlyn Rogowski (Hilliard, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Rachel Wenzel (Akron, Ohio).

Akron will be led by team captains junior Sara Bower (Cincinnati, Ohio), senior Kaylen Goddard (Mechanicsville, Md.) and King as well as fellow returning players senior Kylie Schiemann (Geneva, Ohio), juniors Emalee Szablewski (Lancaster, N.Y.) and sophomores Addison Lambert (Galena, Ohio), Allie McMillen (Shreve, Ohio), Eesha Sutharshan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Ariana Vakos (Avon, Ohio).

The Zips will also be bolstered by a talented 11-member 2025 signing class, which includes eight freshmen and three transfers.

A year ago, Ella Hadley led the Zips in goals (2), points (5), shots on goal (8) and game-winners (1), while McMillen and Katie Stafford each owned a pair of goals. Morgan Pentz directed Akron in assists (2), shots (25), shots on goal (8) and game-winners (1). Bower pulled in 42 saves for Akron.

The Zips boast 11 newcomers to the squad as donning the Akron uniform this fall will be senior Rielly Chesna (Chicago, Ill.), junior Lilly Touhey (Fishers, Ind.), sophomore Taylor Allen (Blacksburg, Va.) and freshmen Freya Blatz (Bethel Park, Pa.), Fiona Buczak (Brunswick, Ohio), Fineen Cregan (Rochester, N.Y.), Luisa Fragnoli (Medina, Ohio), Addison Hall (Manchester, Conn.), Bailey Kerins (Dublin, Ohio), Olivia Pilato (Rochester, N.Y.) and Devyn Raymond (Shelby Township, Mich.).