The 2026 CUNY Athletic Conference women's soccer preseason poll has already begun to shape expectations, with the John Jay Bloodhounds emerging as the clear favorite.
John Jay collected five of the six first‑place votes and amassed 25 points, positioning the Bloodhounds to three‑peat as champions.
The team enters the season riding an 11‑3‑3 record from 2025, including a perfect 4‑0 mark in conference play, and they capped the previous campaign with a 3‑0 shutout of CCNY in the title game.
Behind them, CCNY earned the second spot with 20 points after finishing as last season’s runner‑up, while Brooklyn, Lehman and York followed with 18, 13 and 9 points respectively, and Medgar Evers rounded out the top tier with five points.
The championship bracket will commence with semifinals on October 31, culminating in the final on November 7 at York College, where the men's soccer title game will also be contested.
Key Players to Watch
Brooklyn’s Chelsea Gonzalez, a sophomore who started every game last year and earned All‑Star recognition as a freshman, will be a key offensive threat.
At CCNY, forward Sara Dos Santos contributed three goals and an assist while appearing in all 13 games she played.
John Jay’s senior goalkeeper Anina Gut posted a 1.75 goals‑against average and a .711 save percentage, registering four shutouts across 16 appearances.
Lehman’s junior defender Stephanie Roldan, who started all 14 games as a freshman and continued to feature in nine matches this season, brings defensive stability.
Medgar Evers’ junior midfielder Danajah Lawrence scored four goals, including a brace against York, and started ten games as a freshman.
York’s rookie sensation Stephanie Gonzalez was last season’s Rookie of the Year, finishing with ten goals and an assist for 21 points and leading the conference in scoring.
These athletes, along with the rest of their squads, will be pivotal as the schedule unfolds and the race for the 2026 title intensifies.