ST. LOUIS – The ninth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis women's soccer team begins its 2026 season with a pair of road contests this weekend. The Tritons play their season opener this Thursday (Aug. 27) against Pittsburg State at 1 p.m. in Pittsburg, Kan., and then head to Topeka, Kan., on Saturday (Aug. 29) to take on fourth ranked Washburn at 1 p.m.
The Tritons return 22 letter winners from last season's team led by second team All-American
Taylor Martin. Martin was the Great Lakes Valley Conference's Defensive Player of the Year last year and will be joined by returning All-GLVC performers:
Karley Kinzinger, Josie Maddox,
Gwen Maggard and
Rachel Skyberg.
Maddox is the team's top returning scorer tallying six goals and five assists for a total of 17 points last year. Maggard was second with 16 points scoring five goals while adding six assists and
Ella Anselm and
Maddie Clark each contributed 15 points. Anselm led UMSL with seven goals while Clark had goals with seven assists. Anselm and Clark combined to score five of the team's eight goals in the NCAA Tournament run.
Defensively, the Tritons were one of the top units in the country last season conceding a total of 14 goals and posted 12 clean sheets. They will have to replace second team All-GLVC selection
Rylee Griffith in goal but have returners
Allysa Wolf and
Grace Hastert along with newcomers
Hannah McFarlane and
Tyler Pritchett.
About Pittsburg State – The Gorillas were picked to finish second in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) for this upcoming. Pitt State returns the MIAA's Offensive Player of the Year in Carrie Cunningham along with seven other players that received All-MIAA accolades. Cunningham was tied for the team lead in goals scored with Ella Cazzavillan with five and Cunningham led the team with three game-winners. Goalkeeper Jocelyn Kramer picked up first-team All-MIIA honors after finishing with 0.73 goals against average in 1,700 minutes. She made 49 saves and kept 10 clean sheets in her 14 wins
About Washburn – The Ichabods enter the 2026 season as the favorites to win the MIAA. They received seven first place votes and 138 total points as they edged out Pittsburg State for the top spot by two points.
Washburn went 14-4-6 in 2025 which included an NCAA Division II championship semifinal appearance. Leah Henke led the team in scoring last season tallying 12 goals and two assists for a total of 14 points. She was tied with Kate Hinck for the team lead with four game-winning goals. Lili Everley returns in goal for the Ichabods after a stellar freshman campaign. She conceded 16 goals in more than 2,000 minutes played with 69 saves, a goals against average of 0.71 and had an .812 save percentage.
The Tritons and Ichabods met twice last season with UMSL winning the first meeting 3-0 last September but Washburn won the rematch 3-2 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament.
