2026 Women’s Soccer Top 25

[CentPA]

CWRU women remain undefeated.

More than that, they look very good.  Best I've seen this program in the last 2? 3? Years?

SC.

I would agree CWRU looked really good this year, BUT they just lost their game today to Grove City at home 0-2!

Case Western looked really "off" especially in the second half.

[CentPA]

For the first time ever, Messiah and NYU played each other today (at Messiah) and Messiah was able to come away with their first win of the season 2-1.

No idea where Messiah is going to end up when the rankings come out this Tuesday.  They are currently 1-1-2.  They will definitely drop - it is just a question of how far and do they stay in the top 25.

[SimpleCoach]

CWRU women remain undefeated.

More than that, they look very good.  Best I've seen this program in the last 2? 3? Years?

SC.

I would agree CWRU looked really good this year, BUT they just lost their game today to Grove City at home 0-2!

Case Western looked really "off" especially in the second half.

Of course.  I wont watch a game because I think... oh, they got this one... then they blow it.  Typical.  I think I just have to figure out how I can watch all 400+ games across all DIII so I don't miss this sort of thing....

SC.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Lost to Grove City 2-0 today though.

[CentPA]

William Smith with a nice win today against #21 Carnegie Mellon at home 2-1. 

William Smith looked really good in the first half taking a 1-0 lead into half time.  Fortunately, for them, they got a early goal in the 2nd half to take a 2-0 lead and then had to hang on for the last 40 minutes as Carnegie Mellon got a goal back about 10 minutes later.  Carnegie Mellon ended up out shooting William Smith 13-2 in the second half but couldn't find the equalizer.

[CentPA]

Wash U continues to roll.  They beat Elmhurst at home (senior day) 4-0.

Always enjoy listening to Jay Murray call their home games.  He mentioned that Coach Conlon had to coach against his own daughter today as Courtney Conlon (senior) starts in midfield for the Bluejays.  After the game, Jay will typically interview a player (senior Julia Moore today), and then interview Coach Conlon.  It was interesting to hear him talk about coaching against his daughter's team and how proud he is of her.

[CentPA]

#14 California Lutheran got upset yesterday in an away game in Texas against Texas Lutheran 0-1.

Now they have to quickly regroup as they have a tough SCIAC opening conference game against #6 Pomona-Pitzer this Wednesday.  Pomona-Pitzer wants to get things turned back around as well, as they are coming off their own 0-1 loss on Friday to a tough #3 Chicago team at home.

Of course all of these rankings numbers will change on Tuesday so we'll have to see where they stand by the time they play on Wednesday.

When I went to read the recap of the California Lutheran game yesterday on their website (https://clusports.com/news/2026/9/13/womens-soccer-regals-drop-preseason-finale-to-texas-lutheran.aspx), I hesitated for a second thinking I must have clicked on a scrimmage game!  The recap headline begins: Regals Drop Preseason Finale to Texas Lutheran.

[CentPA]

#13 Swarthmore will be the last team in the preseason top 25 to see action before the first 'in season' rankings come out and the only top 25 team playing today.  They travel to Lancaster Bible College for a game set to start in about 30 minutes. 

Swarthmore is currently sitting at 2-1-1.  Their loss came against #18 Rowan at home 1-2, and their tie was at TCNJ this past Saturday 1-1.  After tonight's game, they will host Johns Hopkins this Saturday for their first conference game of the year.

[CentPA]

Here we go .. first in season USC rankings: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/

Some thoughts:

  -- surprised Messiah stayed in the top 10.  Their tough schedule must have been a big factor.

  -- North Central debuts at #18

  -- Chicago drops a spot without a blemish on their record

  -- Wesleyan the biggest mover going from NR to #6

  -- The UAA conference goes from 6 teams down to 4 in the top 25 (CWRU and Carnegie Mellon exit)

  -- The NESCAC conference goes from 5 teams down to 4 in the top 25 matching the UAA (Middlebury
          and Amherst exit and Wesleyan comes in)

  -- Vassar debuting at #10

  -- William Smith back in the top 25 (at #16)

[CentPA]

Welcome to the top 25!

#6 Wesleyan hosted #2 Tufts tonight in a top 10 matchup and suffer their first loss 0-2.

[CentPA]

As predicted - I am going to post about North Central in this thread now!

#18 North Central (4-0-0) is hosting Wisconsin-Whitewater (4-1-0) tonight. 

Just now #44 Jordan Lange for North Central scored from about 25 out into the upper left side of the net for a 1–0 lead for the Cardinals.  She is currently tied for 7th in the country in total points scored.

[CentPA]

At half time, North Central leads Wisconsin-Whitewater 1-0.  The Cardinals were definitely the stronger team in the first half and lead in shots 3-1.  North Central senior Jordan Lange scored the lone goal, her sixth of the season.

[CentPA]

North Central holds on for the 1-0 win, securing their first win as a top 25 team.  I will say Wisconsin-Whitewater looked a little better in the second half, but still not much of a threat.

[CentPA]

Yesterday 11 teams exited the top 25 and therefore 11 new teams joined the top 25.

11 Teams that exited the top 25 (and their preseason ranking) are:

#9  Middlebury
#11  Case Western
#12  Mary Washington
#13  Swarthmore
#14  California Lutheran
#17  Calvin
#20  Misericordia
#21  Carnegie Mellon
#22  Amherst
#23  Penn State - Harrisburg
#25  Christopher Newport

The 11 teams to come into the top 25 (and their current ranking) are:

 #6  Wesleyan
#10  Vassar
#12  Wisconsin-La Crosse
#14  TCNJ
#15  Penn State - Behrend
#16  William Smith
#18  North Central
#19  Hartford
#20  Grove City
#22  Montclair State
#25  Puget Sound

[SimpleCoach]

My latest top 25.

SC.