WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After going 13-2-5 overall, 7-1-2 in the NESCAC, reaching the conference championship game and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament during the 2025 season, the Williams College women's soccer team is ecstatic to announce the release of its 2026 schedule.
"We are excited to get going with our fall season,"Â said head coach
Sarah Raymond. "We start the year going straight into conference play, but we are confident with our large returning class we can pick up where we left off in the fall of 2025."
The Ephs' schedule features 15 regular-season games, including 10 NESCAC contests and eight home matches being played on Cole Field. The unit opens the season by hosting Bates on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 10 a.m. Williams is riding a 14-game undefeated streak against Bates dating back to the 2011 season, as the group has gone 12-0-2 during that stretch, recorded 13 shutouts and outscored the Bobcats by a combined margin of 26-1.
Williams hosts Little Three-rival Amherst on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m. on Cole Field. The Ephs have gone 6-2-1 in their last nine games against the Mammoths, including emerging victorious in three of the last four meetings. The road team has won three straight matchups in the series, as Williams earned a 1-0 victory at then-fourth-ranked Amherst on Sept. 13, 2025. The teams met in the semifinals of the 2017 NESCAC Tournament, with the Ephs posting a 4-2 triumph in Williamstown.
Another noteworthy date on the schedule is a noon matchup against Little Three-opponent Wesleyan on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Middletown, Connecticut. On Saturday, Oct. 24, at 12:30 p.m., the squad welcomes Tufts to Cole Field for a rematch of the 2025 NESCAC Championship.
The top-eight teams in the conference qualify for the 2026 NESCAC Tournament, as quarterfinal-round action takes place on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the higher seed. The highest remaining seed hosts the semifinal and final rounds on Nov. 7-8.
Rising junior
Elizabeth Stophel was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III All-American Fourth Team, while also garnering All-Region IÂ and NESCAC All-Conference First Team laurels during the 2025 season. Rising sophomores
Maya Lloyd and
Lucy Carrel took home All-Region I and All-Conference Second Team recognition, while Lloyd was named the conference's Rookie of the Year.
"We will certainly be leaning on the experience of our returners to lead the way and demonstrate to our talented incomers what competing at the conference level looks like, as we know every point earned in NESCAC play is so valuable," said Raymond. "We are fortunate to have a team full of ability, so once again our depth will be a competitive advantage in navigating a packed early season conference schedule. We cannot wait."
