After suffering through a blizzard recently, many places in the Northeast are forecast to have highs in the 60s and even 70s this coming week. So, that means its time for the first DIII men's soccer schedules to pop up on websites across the country and it's time to start a 2026 Schedules thread! For some reason, the first groups to post their schedules tend to be from the upper Midwest. Maybe they are trying to wish the spring into existence?
North Central (https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
North Central is coming off an odd year where they only had 2 losses all season, but they had 8 ties and missed out on the NCAA tourney. This fall, they replace Coe, Trine, Dominican, Monmouth, and Knox with Beloit, Nebraska Wesleyan, and a tricky mid-September trip to Michigan to play at Calvin, Kalamazoo, and Albion before returning home to host CCIW foe Illinois Wesleyan and Edgewood. That seems like a decent upgrade and an especially difficult stretch of games right before and after they start conference play.
North Park (https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
North Park had a down year by their lofty standards, but they still made it to the CCIW championship game before succumbing to IWU 1-0. This year, they start the season with what may be a murderer's row of historically strong programs: @ Chicago, Wash. U., Milwaukee School of Engineering, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pacific Lutheran (@ Wheaton), @ Kalamazoo, @ Trine before three straight home games against Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wheaton, and Wisconsin-Platteville. Some of those teams had down years last season, but holy cow! Those games should be fun to watch.
St. Norbert (https://athletics.snc.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
St. Norbert opened last season with a super tough schedule, playing @ Augsburg, @ Macalester, home to Calvin, home to Carthage, and home to UW Stevens Point. They came out of those first 5 games 1-4. This year is quite a bit different. Opening at Saint Johns University won't be easy, but then they play @ Hamline, home to Wisconsin-Stout, @ Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and home to Lawrence.
Wisconsin-Stout (https://stoutbluedevils.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
After going 1-15-4 in only its second year of existence Wisconsin-Stout probably can't find that many opponents willing to play them. Nevertheless, removing Crown and Buena Vista -- two of the teams they tied last season -- isn't going to make it any easier to amass some wins.
Quote from: Kuiper on March 07, 2026, 08:41:49 PMNorth Park (https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
North Park had a down year by their lofty standards, but they still made it to the CCIW championship game before succumbing to IWU 1-0. This year, they start the season with what may be a murderer's row of historically strong programs: @ Chicago, Wash. U., Milwaukee School of Engineering, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pacific Lutheran (@ Wheaton), @ Kalamazoo, @ Trine before three straight home games against Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wheaton, and Wisconsin-Platteville. Some of those teams had down years last season, but holy cow! Those games should be fun to watch.
And fun to call, too. ;)
Millsaps (https://gomajors.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
They are playing some school named "United States Sports University" for the second year in a row. Apparently, it's been around since 1972, but for some reason it only started offering intercollegiate athletic teams in 2024. I guess they offer majors in sports-related areas but it seems odd that someone wouldn't have thought earlier that actually having sports teams would be mission-related, right? In any event, the really crazy thing is that Millsaps is playing AT Southwestern and AT Trinity for a second year in a row. Many conferences rotate home-and-away, but I guess not in the SAA. That's kind of rough. At least they do it in one weekend and they play LeTourneau at home this year rather than traveling to Texas again. They also host Centenary instead of traveling to East Texas Baptist.
Earlham (https://goearlham.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
After going 3-11-3 last season, Earlham needs to schedule a few more wins. They did add two NCCAA teams: Kuyper (which was on the schedules last season, but Kuyper cancelled its entire season after the first two games for what looks like lack of players since they only had 11 in each of their first two games) and Ohio Christian (NCCAA). They also, however, added Albion, which had a strong 12-3-2 season, and dropped Muskingum, which was one of their wins.
Quote from: Kuiper on March 11, 2026, 12:43:02 AMMillsaps (https://gomajors.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
They are playing some school named "United States Sports University" for the second year in a row. Apparently, it's been around since 1972, but for some reason it only started offering intercollegiate athletic teams in 2024. I guess they offer majors in sports-related areas but it seems odd that someone wouldn't have thought earlier that actually having sports teams would be mission-related, right? In any event, the really crazy thing is that Millsaps is playing AT Southwestern and AT Trinity for a second year in a row. Many conferences rotate home-and-away, but I guess not in the SAA. That's kind of rough. At least they do it in one weekend and they play LeTourneau at home this year rather than traveling to Texas again. They also host Centenary instead of traveling to East Texas Baptist.
Apparently, Mike "the Pirate" Leach got a masters from the sports college which is located in Alabama. Never heard of it before.
La Verne (https://leopardathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
La Verne gets the prize for the most diverse (geographically, division, conference) non-conference schedule thus far. They open in Santa Barbara against DII Westmont, then hosts George Fox (Oregon/NWC) and Russell Sage (NY/Empire 8) and the following week travels to Texas to play Southwestern and Trinity from the SAA. They play at SCIAC newcomer Azusa Pacific on 10/7, which is a foe that could become a rival considering that the two campuses are about 8.5 miles away from each other. The other interesting note about Azusa Pacific joining the SCIAC is that it changes the patterns. They now play 4 teams twice and 4 teams only once. La Verne only plays once against Occidental, Whittier, CMS, and Azusa Pacific this season.
Rockford (https://rockfordregents.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
After going 2-15-1 last season, this is another team looking for winnable games. They replace Olivet, Elmhurst, Beloit, Ripon (although they do play them in an exhibition) with Lawrence, Waldorf, Iowa (NAIA), Knox, and Illinois Wesleyan.
Quote from: Kuiper on March 11, 2026, 12:43:02 AMMillsaps (https://gomajors.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
[...]In any event, the really crazy thing is that Millsaps is playing AT Southwestern and AT Trinity for a second year in a row. Many conferences rotate home-and-away, but I guess not in the SAA. That's kind of rough. At least they do it in one weekend and they play LeTourneau at home this year rather than traveling to Texas again. They also host Centenary instead of traveling to East Texas Baptist.
Maryville joins the conference in 2026-27, so the SAA had to adjust schedules and this sounds like a side effect of that.
As a side note, the Texas schools have to head back east for virtually every SAA championship (https://saa-sports.com/sports/2024/6/6/GEN_0606240553.aspx) next year, and for the bulk of the next three seasons. Of the 21 championships held annually, three were in Texas this year and (as of now) only one is next season. With a quarter of the conference's schools in state and fine facilities at both you'd expect 4-5.
Concordia-Moorehead (https://gocobbers.com/sports/msoc/2026-27/schedule)
Drops Saint John's, Dakota Wesleyan and adds a home-and-away series with North Central (Minn). The home-and-away non-conference schedule is not that common, but does happen, particularly if teams are in somewhat remote places and are having trouble finding opponents or if they want to cut down travel and the schools are nearby, but not in the same conference. Playing the two games back-to-back, however, on a Wednesday-Saturday, is pretty unusual. It may give the home team on the second game day an advantage as teams make adjustments.
Washington & Jefferson (https://gopresidents.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
They get the return leg of the Randolph-Macon series from last season and they drop La Roche, Penn State Altoona, and Marietta and add Wooster, Baldwin Wallace, and incoming PAC member Saint Francis. It will be particularly interesting to see how Saint Francis looks, as they will be moving from DI and that transition can be particularly rough as the team loses most of its better players from last season to the transfer portal and perhaps still needs to find its footing in DIII recruiting with the absence of scholarships.
Wheaton (IL) (https://athletics.wheaton.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Wheaton once again appears to have a Region X-heavy non-conference schedule. It travels to Colorado Springs to play against a couple of TBA opponents, but I presume one of them will be Colorado College, which they tied 2-2 last season @Wheaton after Colorado College tied it up in the 78th minute. Then, at Wheaton's Bob Baptista Invitational, they play Pacific Lutheran and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. It also adds home games against Trine and Calvin in place of Wash U and Kalamazoo. A potentially challenging schedule for a school looking to push beyond missing out on the NCAA tournament after losing a close game against North Park in the CCIW semifinals and missing out on the NCAA tournament despite finishing 11-3-4.
Alfred State (https://alfredstateathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
The best news in this schedule is that the Alfred Cup has become an annual event and Alfred State opens the season seeking to defend the cup after beating Alfred 2-1 last season. The biggest change is simply that Alfred State has moved from the AMCC to the SUNYAC. That's a pretty big step-up in conference quality and should pose a significant challenge, even though they've already been playing a few SUNYAC schools non-conference like Fredonia and Delhi.
Quote from: Kuiper on March 16, 2026, 12:36:34 AMWheaton (IL) (https://athletics.wheaton.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)Then, at Wheaton's Bob Baptista Invitational, they play Pacific Lutheran and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
This should be a fun watch for CCIW fans, as they'll get a chance to have an early side-by-comparison of the league's two traditional (but no longer exclusive) powers, what with North Park being the fourth team in the Baptista. I'd love to be there in person, but, since the D3 women's volleyball Windy City Invite is taking place in North Park's gym that weekend, and I'm only responsible for calling the WCI matches that involve North Park, I'll be watching the Baptista on my laptop from the gym's broadcasting perch while the Wentworth, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Webster, John Carroll, and Eastern volleyball teams are on the court in various permutations.
Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 16, 2026, 12:43:08 PMQuote from: Kuiper on March 16, 2026, 12:36:34 AMWheaton (IL) (https://athletics.wheaton.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)Then, at Wheaton's Bob Baptista Invitational, they play Pacific Lutheran and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
This should be a fun watch for CCIW fans, as they'll get a chance to have an early side-by-comparison of the league's two traditional (but no longer exclusive) powers, what with North Park being the fourth team in the Baptista. I'd love to be there in person, but, since the D3 women's volleyball Windy City Invite is taking place in North Park's gym that weekend, and I'm only responsible for calling the WCI matches that involve North Park, I'll be watching the Baptista on my laptop from the gym's broadcasting perch while the Wentworth, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Webster, John Carroll, and Eastern volleyball teams are on the court in various permutations.
It will be interesting to see how PLU and CMS fare in these games. PLU had a good record last season (13-4-3), but it was a down year for them. They did poorly in their early non-conference games, losing to St. Olaf 4-1 and Gustavus Adolphus 2-0, both in Minnesota, and then to Wheaton in Tacoma 2-1, and then losing to Whitman 3-1 in the last game of the regular season to miss out on the auto bid. They only lose 1-2 major contributors and return all their top scorers, though, including 14 goal scorer Owen Bliskis, so I expect they will still be quite competitive. CMS, on the other hand, had a down year on every level, from start to finish and in non-conference and conference, and they lose their top scorer and leader, John Laidlaw. They had a lot of young players, though, and they recruit well nationally, so I expect they will be improved, although the question is by how much.
SUNY Potsdam (https://potsdambears.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Drops Mount Saint Mary's, Bard, SUNY ESF, and Baruch. Problem is those four accounted for 3 of their 5 wins and their 1 tie last season. They add Nazareth, Paul Smith's (USCAA) and Pitt-Bradford and play Manhattanville and MCLA in the Cardinal Classic, so we'll see if they have traded like-for-like. They were really uncompetitive in the SUNYAC last season, but at least they get SUNY Cobleskill on the schedule now.
Concordia Chicago (https://www.cucougars.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
After going 1-15-2 last season, changing teams on the schedule seems like rearranging deck chairs. They drop Lawrence, Andrews, Blackburn, Caltech, and Wisconsin-Stevens Point and add Hope College (who must be visiting Chicago for the weekend), Augustana (IL), and Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind). At least Calumet College looks a scheduled win. They went 0-17 in NAIA last season and 0-11 in 2024 and the program's llast win was in Sept 2023.
A New York City edition
Baruch (https://athletics.baruch.cuny.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
This schedule is still a work-in-progress, but they already have a few interesting matchups, such as @Delaware Valley and @Mount St. Vincent instead of Nazareth, SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Purchase
Medgar Evars (https://mecathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
The first thing that stands out in this schedule is they are supposed to play New Jersey City University in October, even though its merger with Kean is supposed to close on July 1 and the athletics teams other than men's basketball are going end and the players invited to tryout for Kean's teams. So, I expect that will change unless Kean is going to honor the date and send its team to Brooklyn. That would certainly be a scheduled win for Kean considering Medgar Evars only won 1 game last season and wasn't competitive at all in the CUNYAC. They did a game against Five Towns College, which plays in the USCCA, but that's no pushover. They won the NACIA conference, which seems to consist primarily of all the Bryant & Stratton teams from cities in upstate NY.
Bates (https://gobatesbobcats.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
After finishing with a winning record for the first time since 2022, they add a game at Babson along with Maine Maritime to replace University of New England and Maine-Farmington. That alone should up their strength-of-schedule. As for NESCAC play, no games are easy, but the double game weekend on 10/17-10/18 against Tufts and Amherst is a huge test. At least they play those games at home.
Wooster (https://woosterathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Wooster finished 11-2-6 last season, but lost in the NCAC semifinals in OT to Denison to culminate 4 straight games without a win to close the season, so they'll be looking to take the next step this year. They drop Waynesburg, Trine, Westminster (PA), and Mount Union and add Juniata, Wilmington, and Capital.
Hamline (https://hamlineathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Hamline had a decent year last season in the MIAC, only losing 1-0 to Augsburg, St. Olaf, Saint John's and Gustavus Adolphus, and starting out the season going 7-0-1. It will take something special to break through given the strength of their opposition, but they are laying the foundation for success. This season, they drop Wisconsin-Platteville (their one non-conference tie), Lakeland, Lawrence and Bethany Lutheran and add St. Norbert, University of Northwestern (MN). Perhaps they decided that 20 games was overkill and left them dragging late in conference play last season.
Johns Hopkins (https://hopkinssports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Hopkins had a down season by their standard last year, finishing 8-7-6, although they did make a run in the Centennial tournament before losing 4-0 to Dickinson in the finals. Two big road trips to Tennessee and Ohio might have gotten the team off on the wrong foot. They went 2-2 on the trip, but were winless for the next 6 games after returning. This season, they mostly stay close to home to start the season. They drop Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, and Denison, and pick up York and Catholic away and a big set of games on the second weekend hosting Vassar and Washington & Lee.
Grinnell College (https://pioneers.grinnell.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule)
This is a school that feels like it should do better than it does, even though it has recently had a string of (barely) winning records. Strong academics, huge endowment, good merit aid. I suppose it only appeals to a certain type of student and that type of student is also interested in the strong academic liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. In any event, they probably need a little push to get over the top, but the schedule changes this year won't do them any favors. They drop Bethel and Buena Vista and add Wisconsin-River Falls, Gustavus Adolphus (which was on the schedule last season, but ended up being cancelled), and Luther as a new Midwest Conference opponent.
Quote from: Kuiper on March 27, 2026, 07:27:01 PMJohns Hopkins (https://hopkinssports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Hopkins had a down season by their standard last year, finishing 8-7-6, although they did make a run in the Centennial tournament before losing 4-0 to Dickinson in the finals. Two big road trips to Tennessee and Ohio might have gotten the team off on the wrong foot. They went 2-2 on the trip, but were winless for the next 6 games after returning. This season, they mostly stay close to home to start the season. They drop Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, and Denison, and pick up York and Catholic away and a big set of games on the second weekend hosting Vassar and Washington & Lee.
True. I really think the first two Hop games (York and Catholic) are scrimmages as they are before Labor Day weekend and the schedule has 19 games. I think the NCAA allows teams to begin scheduling competitive games on Aug. 28.
Based on the schedule, I think Hop could go at least 5-1 before its Cent. Conf. schedule. That will be great.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on March 29, 2026, 09:25:38 PMQuote from: Kuiper on March 27, 2026, 07:27:01 PMJohns Hopkins (https://hopkinssports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Hopkins had a down season by their standard last year, finishing 8-7-6, although they did make a run in the Centennial tournament before losing 4-0 to Dickinson in the finals. Two big road trips to Tennessee and Ohio might have gotten the team off on the wrong foot. They went 2-2 on the trip, but were winless for the next 6 games after returning. This season, they mostly stay close to home to start the season. They drop Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, and Denison, and pick up York and Catholic away and a big set of games on the second weekend hosting Vassar and Washington & Lee.
True. I really think the first two Hop games (York and Catholic) are scrimmages as they are before Labor Day weekend and the schedule has 19 games. I think the NCAA allows teams to begin scheduling competitive games on Aug. 28.
Based on the schedule, I think Hop could go at least 5-1 before its Cent. Conf. schedule. That will be great.
You are correct. My mistake. I read that schedule too quickly. I think I automatically assumed York and Catholic were part of the schedule partly because they were dropping the first four opponents from last season and didn't list any scrimmages in 2025. They replace them with Shenandoah, Vassar and W&L and drop from 18 games to 17 games this season.
Beloit (https://beloitcollegeathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Adds Dominican, North Central, Dubuque, Concordia Chicago, and Lakeland and drops Earlham, Anderson, St. Francis (ILL), Rockford, Wisconsin Eau Claire
Alma (https://almascots.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
I don't normally see a team playing its first four regular season games against non-NCAA D3 opponents and 8 out of 11 non-conference opponents are not NCAA D3 teams. I guess they are are considered a remote location, since they only have one NCAA D3 non-conference opponents willing to travel to Alma and they have to go to Indiana to get 2 of their 3 D3 non-conference foes. At least they don't play Calvin twice this season.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point (https://athletics.uwsp.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule)
In only the second year of its program's existence, Wisconsin-Stevens Point finished 13-4-4, losing in the WIAC finals 1-0 to Eau-Claire to miss out on the WIAC automatic bid. Its best non-conference win was probably 1-0 over Edgewood last season and it looks like they've tried to increase their strength-of-schedule a little this season to give them a chance if they don't win the WIAC again this season. They swap out Edgewood for Gustavus Adolphus and MSOE, but otherwise it's pretty similar to last season.
Wisconsin-Whitewater (https://uwwsports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Wisconsin-Whitewater has become a powerhouse, winning the WIAC last season and losing on PKs to a tough Wash U team in the first round of the NCAA tournament. With the WIAC small and only playing each other once, that means they have 5 conference games, plus the tournament, leaving plenty of room for a strong non-conference schedule. Last year, their three loses were to Augsburg, North Park, and Loras. This year, they replace Augsburg with Macalester, while continuing to play North Park, Loras, Lake Forest, and Wartburg.
Farmingdale State (https://farmingdalesports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Farmingdale is a decent Skyline team that doesn't shy away from playing stronger non-conference opponents even though it drags down the team's overall record. This year, they add Western Connecticut in place of Haverford and CCNY in place of Lehman.
Marietta (https://pioneers.marietta.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Marietta is the odd case of a team who had a striker (Parker Bolin) on the team who scored 19 goals, but the team still went 5-12-2 and only scored 32 goals all season. Most DIII teams can develop hard-nosed defenders and midfielders, and even get some technical players, but can never pick up a striker like that. Bolin was listed as a senior transfer who played two years at Notre Dame College (DII) and then, after Notre Dame closed, transferred to Mercyhurst (DII), where he did not play at all, before transferring to Marietta last season. If he is done, then they are back to square one. If not, however, then if they can build any semblance of a defense and other pieces of that team, they could make some strides this season. This year, they open hosting Geneva, then travel to Maryville to play two opponents TBD. After playing Franciscan and Mount St. Joseph's, they play a murderer's row of NCAC foes - Kenyon, John Carroll, Denison, and Ohio Wesleyan - before OAC play.
Curry (https://www.curryathletics.com/sports/msoc/2026-27/schedule?jsRendering=true)
Opens at home against Mass-Dartmouth again, where they hope to avoid the 5-1 shellacking they took away last season in the opener. They add Springfield, which should be a tough game, especially with Endicott three days later.
Gustavus Adolphus (https://gogusties.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
The Gusties have a sneaky tough schedule to start the season. After starting against Nebraska Wesleyan, they play Edgewood, Chicago, UW-Superior, Luther, and Lake Forest before opening MIAC play at Saint John's.
University of Saint Joseph (CT) (https://www.usjbluejays.com/sports/msoc/2026-27/schedule)
Replaces Wheaton (MA) (a game it lost 9-1 last season) with Hartford, but otherwise plays the same nonconference schedule, which means it has a decent chance to return to the NCAA tournament if it can find a way to replace Emmanuel Ofori (9g/5a) up top.
Illinois Wesleyan (https://www.iwusports.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
They replace Spalding, Centre, Kalamazoo, Eureka, and Lake Forest with Rockford and Monmouth, reducing their overall nonconference games by three. 14 games total is pretty light, so maybe they plan to add more games to the schedule. Otherwise, a drop in games and quality of opponent sounds like a team that is worried about losing three starting senior defenders and their starting GK.
Brevard (https://bctornados.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Brevard opens with two tournaments. It plays the Emory tournament on opening weekend against Oglethorpe and Emory and then it plays the Centre tournament on the second weekend against Centre and Spalding. It's a good way for a school like Brevard to get games since it is pretty far removed over to the west of the the other schools in its conference. I'm sort of surprised that it isn't playing Warren Wilson at all, though, after playing them twice last season. I think they are the closest D3 school to Brevard. They do pick up a game against Johnson & Wales Charlotte.
Whitworth (https://whitworthpirates.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
What immediately caught my eye is that Whitworth is playing Azusa Pacific in an exhibition game on Aug. 27th. You don't normally see a team from Southern California travel up to Spokane, Washington to play exhibition games. Since Azusa Pacific is a provisional D3 member this season after reclassifying from DII, though, all games are effectively exhibition games and this may be a good way for it to get some decent D3 games in and both show its commitment to any returning players and to start getting its name out there in a community that might have some kids interested in a Christian education in a warmer climate (it wasn't lost on me that Azusa Pacific also chose to travel to one of the other D3 schools on the West Coast with a formal church affiliation and Christian mission).
For Whitworth, it's also the beginning of a pretty ambitious non-conference schedule. They open the season traveling to Colorado Springs to play Austin College and Colorado College (I'm assuming that a fourth team will be at that event so Austin College, a fellow SCAC member, won't play Colorado College before conference play). The next weekend, they host Mary Hardin-Baylor, Whitman, and UC Santa Cruz, where Whitworth will play Mary Hardin-Baylor and UC Santa Cruz. That's a nice mix of Region X opponents. I love that Colorado College has started hosting their pre-conference event and that Whitworth has organized one of its own similar to the Trinity-Southwestern event where they can invite multiple teams to the area.
Averett (https://averettcougars.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Only nonconference change is to add Mary Baldwin in place of NC Wesleyan. I was mostly curious about the scrimmage against Combine Academy. I looked them up and they are an international boarding school in Charlotte that also has a post-graduate program. The soccer roster looks like a United Nations of countries represented.
Lake Forest (https://goforesters.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026)
Lake Forest was 19-2 last season, which was the best record in program history, and won its 4th MWC title in a row. It was also the fourth straight season in which the team was beaten pretty handily in the first round of the NCAA tournament despite having some strong victories in non-conference play including beating Calvin 3-0. The question is if they can find a way to get beyond a first round tourney exit. Not sure if this schedule will do it, but it does have some games that should challenge them. They take a trip to the Pacific Northwest in early September to play Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound. They also host Gustavus Adolphus and travel to Luther, which beat them 4-1 in the NCAA tournament last season.
Saint John's schedule features 5/9 non cons from the UMAC. Crown, Bethany Lutheran, North Central (MN), UW-Superior, and UW-River Falls all return with swapped locations. Johnnies open with St. Norbert and go to Minnesota-Morris. Also new additions are home games against Coe and an interesting trip to Colorado College.
https://gojohnnies.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026
Aurora schedule returns Greenville. Single games home to Calvin and Millikin. Also included is the Centre tournament facing Spaulding and host Centre.
https://athletics.aurora.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2026
The game against Colorado College is "midway" between the two schools at Creighton (Omaha NE). SJU can bus there (it's about six hours), for the Tigers it would be eight-plus hours but that's a lot cheaper than a flight (for which they'd have to bus both ways to DIA, anyway). It'll be the first time since 2006 that the two have met with CC holding a 9-5-1 advantage.