TAMPA, Fla. — Keiser opens the 2026 Sun Conference women’s soccer season as the preseason favorite, earning 61 points and five first-place votes in the annual poll of the league’s nine head coaches.
The Seahawks enter 2026 as the reigning NAIA National Champions after a historic postseason run that culminated with the program capturing the national title in early December. Keiser defeated No. 24 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 4 Missouri Valley and No. 7 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on its way to the championship match before defeating No. 9 Cumberlands (Ky.) in penalty kicks to claim the title. The Seahawks finished the year 19-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 in conference play.
Southeastern is voted second in this year’s poll with 57 points and three first-place votes. The Fire enter 2026 as the reigning Sun Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions after finishing last season 13-3-3 overall and 6-1-1 in conference play. Southeastern advanced to the NAIA Championship before seeing its season come to an end in overtime in the Second Round.
SCAD Savannah earned 51 points and the final first-place vote to place third. The Bees, who captured the 2024 NAIA National Championship, finished 2025 with a 9-6-4 overall record and a 4-1-3 mark in conference play, narrowly missing a return trip to the NAIA Championship.
St. Thomas earned 42 points to place fourth in the preseason poll. Ave Maria and Florida Memorial are tied for fifth with 32 points apiece, followed by New College of Florida with 25 points.
Warner earned 13 points to place eighth, while Webber International earned 11 points to complete the preseason rankings.
| 2026 Sun Conference Women's Soccer Preseason Poll |
| Rank |
Team |
Points
(first-place votes) |
2025 Conference Record |
2025 Overall Record |
| 1 |
Keiser |
61 (5) |
6-1-1 |
19-3-2 |
| 2 |
Southeastern |
57 (3) |
6-1-1 |
13-3-3 |
| 3 |
SCAD |
51 (1) |
4-1-3 |
9-6-4 |
| 4 |
St. Thomas |
42 |
4-1-3 |
10-4-5 |
| T5 |
Ave Maria |
32 |
1-3-4 |
5-8-5 |
| T5 |
Florida Memorial |
32 |
3-4-1 |
5-6-4 |
| 7 |
New College |
25 |
2-5-1 |
2-13-1 |
| 8 |
Warner |
13 |
2-5-1 |
6-11-3 |
| 9 |
Webber Int'l |
11 |
0-7-1 |
4-9-2 |
Key Links
ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now in its 36th year, The Sun Conference — a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1990 — is a leading member of the NAIA. The league’s 10 full-member institutions across Florida and Georgia compete in 24 championship sports. Under Commissioner Dustin Wilke, The Sun continues to raise the standard in collegiate athletics. Learn more at thesunconference.com.
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