The Northwest Conference women's soccer coaches have selected the Puget Sound Loggers as the preseason favorite to claim the 2026 NWC championship title, receiving eight first-place votes and 64 total points in the annual preseason coaches poll.
The Loggers are coming off a 2025 season in which they shared the NWC regular-season championship with Pacific Lutheran after both teams finished conference play with identical 12-0-4 records. Puget Sound earned the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship based on NWC tiebreaking policies regarding goal differential.
Pacific Lutheran was picked second in the 2026 preseason poll with 56 points, including one first-place vote. The Lutes finished as co-champions alongside Puget Sound last season and posted a 12-2-6 overall record.
Linfield follows in third with 46 points, while Whitman was selected fourth with 44 points. Pacific earned 33 points to rank fifth, followed by Whitworth with 27 points and Willamette with 25 points.
Lewis & Clark was picked eighth with 16 points, while George Fox rounded out the poll in ninth with 13 points.
The 2026 Northwest Conference women's soccer regular season is scheduled to begin Wednesday, September 16. The regular-season champion will earn the NWC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament.
Numbers in parentheses indicate first-place votes. Points are awarded on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.
2026 NWC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Points
|
|
1.
|
Puget Sound (8)
|
64
|
|
2.
|
Pacific Lutheran (1)
|
56
|
|
3.
|
Linfield
|
46
|
|
4.
|
Whitman
|
44
|
|
5.
|
Pacific
|
33
|
|
6.
|
Whitworth
|
27
|
|
7.
|
Willamette
|
25
|
|
8.
|
Lewis & Clark
|
16
|
|
9.
|
George Fox
|
13
|