Full Rankings
KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches, in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Association, released its 2026 Division II Preseason poll on Tuesday night, and West Chester was ranked sixth in the preseason poll after finishing the 2025 season in the National Quarterfinals with a record of 16-3-4.
West Chester enjoyed a tremendous 2025 season as the Golden Rams returned to the NCAA Tournament and captured their eighth Atlantic Regional Championship to return to the National Quarterfinals for the second time in four seasons. Head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley and company earned both PSAC East and United Soccer Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors while
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) and Kianna Barber (Browns Mills, N.J./BCIT) earned United Soccer Third Team All-American honors. Barber had a breakout sophomore season, which included an NCAA Tournament hat trick against West Virginia State as the sophomore finished the season with a team-best 13 goals and five assists for 31 points, while Matter, a three-time PSAC East Major Award winner, concluded her outstanding career with eight goals and 10 assists for 26 points to cement her legacy as one of the top players in program history.
West Chester is the top PSAC East program in the preseason poll and the top Atlantic Region team, as Florida Tech, Cal Poly Pomona, Franklin Pierce, Washburn, and Dallas Baptist comprised the top five. Nova Southeastern, Lenoir-Rhyne, Missouri St.-Louis, and UC Colorado Springs rounded out the top-10.
West Chester is one of three PSAC programs in the preseason top-25, as Shepherd is 17th, and Gannon is 23
rd in the first rankings of the 2026 season. West Chester will open its season against another top-15 program in Jefferson, which is ranked 11
th to open the season after finishing last season 12
th in the Nation with a record of 17-3-1. The Golden Rams are slated to visit Jefferson at 2 p.m. on August 27 in the season opener. West Chester will begin the 2026 season on a three-game road trip as the team will visit Bloomsburg at 3 p.m. on August 29 and East Stroudsburg at 7 p.m. on September 2 before opening their home slate against Lackawanna on September 5 at 12 pm.
