Previews Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
CLEVELAND – MACtion is officially back as the 2026 women’s soccer season kicks off on Wednesday, Aug. 12. In total, MAC squads will hit the pitch for 15 matches over the opening week of the season.
Conference play will start on Sept. 17 and will conclude with the final day of the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 1.
After a historic first year as a neutral site event, the MAC Women’s Soccer Championship is set to return to Historic Crew Stadium in 2026. The postseason tournament is slated to take place on Nov. 7-13 in Columbus.
The 2026 MAC Women’s Soccer Championship will open on Saturday, Nov. 7 with a pair of quarterfinal matches. Semifinal matches are slated for Tuesday, Nov. 10 before the championship match on Friday, Nov. 13. Game times will be announced at a later date.
This will mark just the second year in conference history that the event will be hosted at a neutral site after a historic event in 2025 at Historic Crew Stadium.
Stay tuned to GetSomeMACtion.com and follow @MACSports on X and Instagram for the latest ticketing news for the 2026 MAC Women’s Soccer Championship.
For more information on Historic Crew Stadium, please click here.
Below is a team-by-team preview for the 2026 MAC Women’s Soccer season, which begins today, Aug. 12.
Team-By-Team Previews (In Preseason Coaches Poll Predicted Order)
1. Western Michigan Broncos
The Western Michigan women's soccer team was picked first in the annual Mid-American Conference preseason poll, which was announced by the league this afternoon. The Broncos paced the 12-team league with nine first place votes and 119 overall points.
WMU has been dominant in the MAC over the last three season, winning five MAC Championships (three regular season, two tournament) in that span. Over the last three seasons, the Brown and Gold have produced a 26-1-7 record in conference play. The lone loss came to Northern Illinois, which is no longer a member of the MAC.
Western Michigan has already picked up two exhibition wins to start the 2026 season, beating Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland. The Brown and Gold will host Saginaw Valley State tomorrow night at 6 PM to close out exhibition play. The season opener is set for Aug. 18 against Idaho in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The home opener will come on Aug. 27 against Colorado.
2. Miami RedHawks
Preview coming soon.
3. Bowling Green Falcons
The Falcons return 19 student-athletes from last season's club. The 2025 Falcons finished with an overall record of 10-3-9, and BGSU went 4-1-7 in MAC play. The Falcons finished sixth in the then 13-team league, then proceeded to advance past third-seeded Buffalo and second-seeded Miami in the MAC Tournament, making it all the way to the championship match.
The 2026 Falcons begin the regular-season schedule on Sunday (August 16), taking on Robert Morris at Cochrane Stadium. First touch is set for 1:00 p.m., and admission is free.
4. Buffalo Bulls
he University at Buffalo women's soccer team hosts Big 4 rival Niagara in a showdown under the lights at Broadview Stadium for the regular season opener on Wednesday night.
It is the 44th meeting between Buffalo and Niagara with the Bulls holding a 29-12-2 series advantage. The Bulls have won five straight meetings with the Purple Eagles, most recently a 2-0 win at Niagara Field last season.
The roster features eight freshmen and four transfers and includes a total of 17 underclassmen, making them one of the younger teams in the league and nation. Buffalo returns just six starters and will be looking to a bevy of fresh faces for production on both ends of the pitch.
The strength of any UB squad has always been the backline, and this year will be no different, albeit with some new faces. The Bulls ranked in the top 25 nationally in goals against average (0.68) while also ranking in the top 50 in the nation in shutout percentage (.474) a season ago.
Offensively, senior Laiken Kiser returns after a breakout junior campaign in which she recorded five goals, including two multi-goal performances, and 10 points while ranking third on the team in shots (22). Senior Eva Blatz also had a banner year a season ago, scoring the first two goals of her career, including a game-winner, while recording 21 shots, good for fourth-best on the team. 2026 All-Freshman team selection Adriana Victoriano also returns after a solid rookie season in which she notched a pair of goals and fellow sophomores Maddy Murphy and Jessie Bernabe are also looking to take on bigger roles after scoring their first career goals last season.
The Bulls will be led between the pipes by two-time MAC Goalkeeper of the Year Lexie Thompson, who continues to prove that she is one of the best keepers in the nation. She is coming off a solid junior campaign in which she recorded a 12-5-2 overall record and ranked in the top three in the MAC and in the top 30 nationally in goals against average (0.69) and shutouts (8) while ranking fourth in the league in save percentage (.803) across 19 contests. The Levittown, NY native currently ranks first in program history in career goals against average (0.70), third in shutouts (21) and fourth in wins (27).
5. Kent State
The Kent State Soccer team will kick off their 2026 season on Thursday night as the Cleveland State Vikings of the Horizon League will come to town for a 7 P.M. kick at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium.
Head Coach Rob Marinaro returns 19 players from a Golden Flashes team that produced an 8-6-6 overall record (6-4-3 MAC) with a trip to the MAC Soccer Tournament in Columbus.
A strong veteran presence returns on both sides of the pitch as the Flashes bring back leading goal scorers in seniors Samantha Miller and Josie Morgan. KSU returns 83% of their scoring production from a year ago.
Other notable returners on the offensive end include sophomores Isabelle Leofanti and Mia Cleroux who scored two goals a year ago. Graduate Student defender Abby Breitschuh also contributed a pair of goals in 2025.
On the defensive side, the blue and gold will return Juniors Allison Collins and Ali Weibel as well as seniors Allison Burkey and Ava Todd. Senior Leah Shaffer returns as a goalkeeper who started all 20 games last year for Kent State and accumulated 73 saves and six shutouts throughout the year.
The Flashes will also have six newcomers looking to make an impact entering their first seasons in collegiate soccer. Lila Simon comes in as an All-American forward from Monclova, Ohio.
Clara Monck and Mia Mc Lean Mercier also hope to be strong pieces on the defensive end in year one as members of the U17 Canadian National team. Zsofia Jakab, Mary Mascaro and Jordan Levenhagen also enter in their first seasons at Kent State.
6. Ball State
The Ball State soccer team gets the regular season started with a 4 p.m. match on Wednesday against IU Indy at the Briner Sports Complex.
Links to the video stream and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals are coming off a 10-7-3 (7-4-1 Mid-American Conference) season in 2025 in head coach Andy Stoots' first year leading the program.
IU Indy went 4-11-3 (3-5-2 Horizon League) last year in head coach Angela Berry White's first in charge of the program. Ball State beat the Jaguars 1-0 last Aug. 31 in Indianapolis and holds a 7-3-2 edge in the series history against IU Indy.
Ball State returns an experienced backfield including defenders Delaney Ahearn, Audrey Goodyear, Grier Isaacson and Jordyn Klaasen and junior goalkeeper Kate Pallante that helped the team shut out No. 5 seed Kent State in last season's Mid-American Conference Tournament on the way to advancing via a penalty kick shootout.
Seven freshmen and two transfers join 16 returners to form the 2026 roster. The two transfers are junior forwards Francesca Terrasi (Florida International) and Caleigh Collard.
True freshmen include defenders Kari Radford and Caiya Clemons, midfielders Natalia Garcia-Souffront, Mary Jane Keller, Anna Kate Robillard and Kate Klinginsmith and forward Lilamae Frank.
Following consecutive road contests at Butler (Aug. 20), Western Kentucky (Aug. 23) and Purdue (Aug. 27), the Cardinals will return home to host Cincinnati on Aug. 30.
7. Eastern Michigan
Preview coming soon.
8. Ohio
The 2026 Bobcats are led by 14th-year head coach Aaron Rodgers. Ohio returns juniors Iro Fakinou (Athens, Greece) and Sania Dearing (Pickerington, Ohio) and seniors Jaimason Brooker (Powell, Ohio) and Kate Robinson (Madison Heights, Mich.) who were four of the top five point scorers for the Bobcats in 2025, with Fakinou leading the way with four goals and nine points. Ohio also returns senior Anna Burchette (Prestonburg, Ky.) and redshirt senior Ella Deevers (Streetsboro, Ohio), as well as graduate student Eve Berish (Hudson, Ohio) who missed last season due to injury.
Ohio gets the regular season started at home on Wednesday, Aug. 12 when the Bobcats host UIC. First touch is set for 4 p.m. ET at Chessa Field.
9. UMass
Preview coming soon.
10. Toledo
Preview coming soon.
11. Central Michigan
Central Michigan Soccer opens the 2026 campaign Wednesday (8 p.m. ET) at Loyola Chicago with the first of a three-match road start to the season. Visits to Charleston Southern (Aug. 20) and Coastal Carolina (Aug. 23) stand between the Chippewas and their home opener Aug. 27 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
12. Akron
Preview coming soon.
