GRAND JUNCTION Colo.- Coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, the Colorado Mesa University women's soccer team will open up their 2026 campaign in Texas with two games against Midwestern State and Texas Woman's University.
Both teams will host the Mavs in their respective home stadiums with Midwestern State playing at Stang Park in Wichita Falls while Texas Woman's will host at Pioneer Soccer Park in Denton. The Mavs will play the Mustangs at 7 p.m. CDT (6 p.m. Mountain) and the Pioneers at 11 a.m. CDT (10 a.m. Mountain).
This will be the 11th meeting between the Mavs and the Mustangs. The Mustangs own the overall advantage with a record of 6-3-1. The last time these two teams played was in 2024, when the Mavs would get the win 2-1.
Texas Woman's University has faced the Mavs six times and own a 4-2 record. The last time they faced each other was in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season and the Pioneers that would come out on top 1-0 in a double overtime classic.
The 2025 campaign saw a historic season which saw the team amass a record of 14-4-2 and an unbeaten 9-0-2 conference record. The team only conceded six goals and none during conference play. They would earn a spot in the RMAC Conference Tournament and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Jody Lingafeldt enters her third year as head coach and has an incredible record of 28-6-6 including back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Lingafeldt is looking to continue the success of the previous two years and make a run in the NCAA Tournament. The Mavs are
projected to finish second according to the RMAC preseason poll.
Much of the team will returning including All-American goalkeeper
Keely Wieczorek, defenders
Sarah Dunn and
Olivia Barrett, and forward
Ellie Duncan. Wieczorek, Dunn, and Barrett were all named to the Preseason All-RMAC team and Duncan scored the second-most goals on the squad with four. The team will also look towards Katie Lozano-Monjarez, Olivia Bario-Arce,
Mari Ige,
Parker Mairs and
Ella Speerschneider, all whom started in ten games or more.
Even with most of the returners back, there are still a lot of new talent that are eager to make their mark. Transfers Jenelle Arenibus (MSU Denver) and
Coral Turner (Cal State Dominguez Hills) will be expected to contribute.
The Mustangs finished last season with an overall record of 11-3-6 and an unbeaten conference record of 10-0-4, including a win against the number one ranked Dallas Baptist. This record would be good enough for a second place finish in the Lone Star Conference regular season and an eventual berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they would be defeated 1-0 by UCCS. They are projected to finish second in the LSC and received two first-place votes while forward Morgan Countryman, defender Bella Rose and goalkeeper Lauren Short were named to the Players to Watch list.
The Pioneers are coming off a successful season where they finished with an overall record of 16-4-3 and a conference record of 9-2-3. They would finish third in the LSC regular season standings just behind Midwestern State and make it all the way to the LCS championship match before losing to Dallas Baptist. They would qualify for the NCAA Tournament but falter in the second round against Dallas Baptist once again. The Pioneers are projected to finish third in the LSC and picked up three first-place votes. Three players were also named to the Players to Watch list including forward Giselle Gutierrez, defender Lupita Bueno and goalkeeper Faith Graves.
After their Texas trip, the Mavs will head up to the Pacific Northwest for another two game slate against Western Oregon on Sept. 10 and Seattle Pacific on Sept. 12.
