Coming off of its Florida trip, and prior to starting Great Midwest Athletic Conference play in 2026, the Ashland University women's soccer team remains in the No. 11 spot in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches (IWSOC) NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday (Sept. 8) afternoon.
 
The Eagles (2-1-1) lost 2-1 at top-ranked Florida Tech on Thursday (Sept. 3) night, then defeated Rollins on the road on Saturday (Sept. 5) night, 1-0.
 
"It was a great opportunity for us to build some belief playing the defending national champs," said Ashland head coach Cayleb Paulino. "We prepared ourselves with three opponents, and probably four, that will probably all make the conference tournament in their respective conferences.
 
"We've challenged ourselves at the beginning of the year, and now we're in conference play, and we know what we need to work on and what we have to get better at, and we're excited for what's to come."
 
Ashland will begin league play on Thursday (Sept. 10) at 1 p.m. at Tiffin, then will return to Ferguson Field on Saturday (Sept. 12) at 2 p.m. vs. Ursuline.
 
The preseason favorite to win the conference title, the Eagles also have won Great Midwest regular-season championships in 2021, 2024 and 2025.
 
2026 ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER IWSOC/USC RANKINGS: No. 22 (preseason), No. 11 (Sept. 1 and Sept. 8).