RICHARDSON, Texas - With the 2026 season just over a week away, Oklahoma Christian women's soccer was selected to finish 11th in the 2026 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, the league announced Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Defending LSC champion DBU was picked to retain the conference crown, garnering 38 of the available 45 first-place votes and 662 total points. Midwestern State (583 points) and Texas Woman's (581) were picked to follow the Patriots while UT Dallas (556) and UT Tyler (459) rounded out the top five.

The Eagles finished 2025 with a 6-10-2 overall record and a 4-9-1 conference mark. This year, OC returns 71.2 percent of last year's minutes played, including four of its five leading goal scorers.

"Since [the 2025 season] has been over with, I have been itching to get back at it and just prove that we are a program to be reckoned with," head coach Evan Dresel said. "[This offseason] has just been a lot of planning and reassessing, going back to the drawing board, etc. But I really am excited to put this team in front of people. I think we will have an exciting way of playing."

LSC Offensive Player to Watch junior left wing Caid Jefferson, who led the way with four goals and four assists, and junior forward Sophie Placke, who finished third on the team with three goals despite playing just nine matches before missing the rest of the year to injury, will look to give charge to the Eagles offense.

In addition to Jefferson and Placke, the maroon-and-gray also return senior striker Ruta Andrews, who is in her fourth year with the program. Andrews played in all 18 games for the Eagles last season, tallying a pair of goals and assists for six points. Leading the defense is senior defender Caitlin Thompson and LSC Defensive Player to Watch senior defender Ella Atkins.

"We do have something to prove this season," Andrews said. "We have this hunger of wanting to get better every day, not comparing ourselves to past teams but focusing on ourselves and our identity."

Oklahoma Christian gets the season underway Saturday, Aug. 29 at 12 p.m. when in-region foe Colorado Christian comes to the Eagles Soccer Field. The maroon-and-gray will have one final home non-conference match against Mississippi Christian Thursday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. before beginning conference play Wednesday, Sept. 9.


2026 LSC WOMEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
 

Rank	School	Total	1st-Place Votes
1	DBU	662	38
2	Midwestern State	583	2
3	Texas Woman's	581	3
4	UT Dallas	556	1
5	UT Tyler	459
6	St. Mary's	443	1
7	Angelo State	434
8	St. Edward's	338
9	Lubbock Christian	336
10	West Texas A&M	266
11	Oklahoma Christian	240
12	Texas A&M International	194
13	UT Permian Basin	148
14	Sul Ross State	97
15	Eastern New Mexico	63