KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its preseason coaches poll for the 2026 women’s soccer season. Washburn, the defending NCAA Central Region Champion, topped the preseason rankings with seven first-place votes while Pittsburg State, the reigning MIAA champion, finished close behind in second with six first-place selections.
 
MIAA head coaches picked the Ichabods and Gorillas to finish at the top of the league once again in the upcoming women’s soccer season. Washburn collected 138 points and received seven first-place votes from MIAA head coaches. Pitt State finished just two points (136) behind the Ichabods and was selected to finish first in the league by six MIAA head coaches.
 
Central Missouri earned the No. 3 spot in the preseason poll with 119 points. Missouri Western finished fourth with 108 points, and Central Oklahoma capped the coaches’ top five with 96 points in fifth. Northwest Missouri was picked sixth (92 points), followed by Emporia State in seventh (85 points), Northeastern State in eighth (66 points), Nebraska Kearney in ninth (45 points), Fort Hays State in 10th (43 points), Rogers State in 11th (41 points), Missouri Southern in 12th (25 points), and Newman in 13th (22 points).
   
After claiming back-to-back regular season titles in 2023 and 2024, Washburn finished the 2025 season as the league’s runner-up with an MIAA record of 8-0-4. The Ichabods advanced to the NCAA postseason for the third consecutive season and won the 2025 NCAA Central Region Championship, advancing to the final rounds of the NCAA Division II national championship for the second time in the last three seasons. Washburn suffered a 2-1 loss to Franklin Pierce University in the national semifinals to end the season with an overall record of 14-4-6.
 
The Ichabods return their reigning MIAA Freshman of the Year, Leah Henke, who tied for a league-high 12 goals and ranked second overall with 26 points on the season. Also returning for Washburn is All-MIAA First Team defender Lindsey Maul, Second Team defender Rilyn Snyder, Third Team midfielders Grace Peterson and Mackinly Rohn, and Third Team forward Sam Searcey.
 
Pittsburg State, a program that played its first season in 2024, captured its first-ever MIAA women’s soccer championship in 2025 with a league record of 9-1-2. The Gorillas also earned their first-ever at-large bid into the NCAA postseason, where they suffered a 3-0 loss to St. Cloud State in the first round of the Central Region Championship. Pitt State returns its First Team All-MIAA forward Carrie Cunningham, the reigning MIAA Offensive Player of the Year, the league’s First Team All-MIAA goalkeeper, Jocelyn Kramar, and six additional 2025 All-MIAA players.
 
Central Missouri finished last season with an MIAA record of 7-2-3 and went 11-6-2 overall. The Jennies return six of their seven 2025 All-MIAA selections, which include First Team All-MIAA forward Mikayla Ernst and Honorable Mention keeper Kristen Wright. Ernst was the league’s leading scorer last season with 12 goals and six assists for 30 points, and Wright owned an MIAA-best 0.64 goals-against average with 13 goals allowed in over 1,800 minutes of action.
 
Missouri Western enters the 2026 season as the defending MIAA tournament champion. The Griffons won their first-ever tournament title last season with a 2-1 overtime win against Central Oklahoma in the championship match. MoWest suffered a 2-0 loss to Washburn in the opening round of the NCAA Central Region Championship to end the season with a record of 12-3-7 overall.
 
The first matches of the 2026 NCAA Division II women’s soccer season begin Thursday, August 27, with the first MIAA matches set for Friday, September 18. The 2026 NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer National Championship will take place December 3-5 at the CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, as part of the NCAA Division II Fall Festival.
 
To view week-by-week schedules for all 13 MIAA women’s soccer programs, visit theMIAA.com/soccer.