Preseason Outlook
The 2026 NEWMAC women's soccer preseason coaches poll has already set the stage for a familiar battle, with MIT earning 11 of the 12 first‑place votes and emerging as the clear favorite to capture its fourth straight conference championship.
Head coach Martin Desmarais, who took the helm in 2008, brings a staggering 138‑16‑14 record in league play and a track record that includes nine NEWMAC titles, the most recent coming in 2025 when his squad posted a program‑best 22 wins and 20 shutouts.
Returning talent fuels the optimism, highlighted by Fourth Team All‑American Madeline Seebeck and fellow All‑Conference standouts Georgia Louis, Caroline Sutherland and Rowan McCrary, each of whom contributed heavily in the 2025 campaign.
Other programs are also shaping up as contenders; Springfield, under second‑year coach Kursten Shade, garnered a single first‑place vote, while Babson and Emerson finished third and fourth in the poll, the former boasting reigning Defensive Player of the Year Caroline Sutherland and the latter counting leading scorer Rowan McCrary among its ranks.
The season will open on September 1 with matches against Smith College and UMass‑Boston before conference play begins on September 19, culminating in the NEWMAC championship game on November 7, which will determine the NCAA Division III tournament qualifier.