2026 Season Preview: Girls’s Soccer

Coming off its finest Northwest Conference end in 11 years, Pacific’s ladies’s soccer opens the 2026 season with one thing it did not totally have a yr in the past — proof.

Head coach Kellan McNamara, getting into his third season on the helm, guided the Boxers to a 3-5-8 file and a fifth-place NWC end in 2025, together with attracts in opposition to convention co-champions Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran. Now, with a deep group of returners paired with an inflow of freshmen and transfers, McNamara believes this system is positioned to push even additional.

“We’ve got a good group of returners that are coming in after a successful 2025 season,” McNamara stated. “They are motivated and ready to compete, and then we’ve got a great balance of freshmen coming in, transfers coming in that are really adding something to the group as well. A lot of competition, a lot of energy, a lot of confidence. I’m excited to see what we can do this year.”

Building on Belief

For McNamara, final season’s step ahead wasn’t simply in regards to the standings however about proving to the group what it is able to.

“I think belief is what it really gives us,” he stated. “We were able to prove to ourselves last year that we can very much compete in this conference. We’re proud of that, but also eager to accomplish more. We think a lot of the same things we did to get us to fifth place last year are things that are going to allow us to proceed to the next level. We’ve just got to keep developing and keep improving in those areas.”

That development, he added, is already displaying up in preseason coaching.

“I think the competitiveness in training has been fantastic. I think that’s going to keep pushing us to get better,” McNamara stated. “As far as results, it’s the consistency and then it’s the key moments in every game. Every game in the Northwest Conference is very competitive, very close, a lot of one-goal games. Being consistent, limiting mistakes and then capitalizing in those big moments, those key individual moments that are the difference between a loss and a tie, and a tie and a win, being clinical in those moments and being disciplined will be super important.”

A Proactive Identity, On Both Ends

McNamara has been clear in regards to the identification he needs this Boxers crew to play with in 2026: aggressive, purposeful and onerous to play in opposition to in each part.

“On the field, we want to be a team that is really proactive in all phases of the game,” he stated. “Defensively, we want to get up the field. We want to press opponents and make things difficult for them. And in the attack, we want to be very purposeful and play a really dynamic, progressive, attacking style.”

Offensively, which means selection and numbers ahead, even because the Boxers change their manufacturing up prime. Pacific graduated its prime two objective scorers from a season in the past, leaving senior Rissalyn Hara because the main returning scorer with three targets and two assists in 2025.

“We want to be a very purposeful team in the way we attack,” McNamara stated. “We want to get numbers forward, we want to get numbers up the field. We want to be able to attack in a variety of ways. Set pieces are important, also within the run of play. We think we have a lot of tools and a lot of variety to how we want to attack. We certainly want to dominate the game on the attacking side as well as the defensive side.”

On the again finish, McNamara is leaning on a power that carried the Boxers via 2025, when Pacific posted six shutouts in convention play.

“I think defending is about organization and effort. I think that’s something we continue to do well,” he stated. “I’m excited about the group of defenders we’ve got returning, and goalkeepers as well — we’ve got a really strong group. It’s the individual players we have there, but it’s also just the team organization, the team commitment to defending. We would like to strive to defend more aggressively, a little bit higher up, to create more on the attacking side. We’re working on that as well.”

Part of that goalkeeping power is Jaelynn Moo, who returns after splitting time in internet final season. Moo recorded 4 shutouts and 16 saves throughout seven begins in 2025.

Selfless and Gritty

Beyond techniques, McNamara has centered the crew’s preseason messaging on tradition, particularly, two phrases he is repeated typically along with his gamers.

“We talked as a team about being selfless and gritty. I think those are two huge keys to what we want to do,” he stated. “We want to be great teammates. We want to sacrifice in everything we do, put the team above ourselves. That will be huge. And then the grit, embracing the challenging parts of the game, embracing the challenging parts of being on a team and playing college soccer. Hopefully you see a very gritty team and a very selfless team. I think we’ve seen that already.”

That aggressive spirit, McNamara stated, has already been on show in exhibition play.

“The final piece is a team that just really enjoys competing with one another and enjoys playing the game and giving their absolute all,” he stated. “We’ve seen that so far in the first couple of games, and I’m excited to build on that.”

Depth Across the Roster

If there’s one phrase McNamara retains coming again to when describing this yr’s roster, it is depth and the variety of gamers he expects to push for enjoying time.

Anchoring that group is senior Ruby Waters, who earned second crew all-conference honors as a defender final season and returns as a veteran presence on the again line McNamara has praised all through the preseason.

“I think we’ve got a very deep group,” he stated. “There’s a lot of players we’re expecting to step up this year that are returners, there’s also a ton of freshmen and transfers that have come in and already made an impact. Just a lot to be excited about. We’re very motivated for that and excited to put on a good performance.”

With a roster that blends confirmed NWC rivals and new items nonetheless discovering their footing, the Boxers head into 2026 with a transparent identification and, per McNamara, a perception that fifth place was a ground — not a ceiling.

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