James Madison University women’s soccer announced its 2026 schedule on Apr. 27, according to Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
The release of the new schedule is important as it outlines key changes for the upcoming season, including an extended preseason and a longer regular season. The Dukes will play a total of 19 matches in the fall, with half of those games taking place at Sentara Park.
James Madison will begin its season at home against NC State on Aug. 12 and George Mason on Aug. 16 before heading out for three away matches to close August against Georgia, Virginia, and Princeton. In September, JMU hosts Georgetown and UNC Greensboro as part of the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational before finishing non-conference play with trips to Liberty and Loyola Maryland.
“I am very excited about the 2026 schedule. It is another year where we have a challenging slate,” Walters said. He added: “Our goal is to give us two opportunities at the NCAA tournament. With the non-conference you must climb the RPI ladder to be in the mix for a NCAA at large tournament bid through the quality of opponent. Results against top 1-50 along with wins overall creates the resume to be considered. Then in Sun Belt play, the tough non-conference games will prepare us to make a run at a Sun Belt tournament championship through the regular season conference gauntlet. The Sun Belt as a conference has taken big strides nationally elevating the conference in RPI. As a program, you must grow through the conference season to be there at the end in the championship game. Winning the Sun Belt tournament is an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament.”
The team’s Sun Belt Conference campaign begins away against Southern Miss on Sept. 18 and includes further road matches versus Marshall, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, and Georgia Southern throughout October and November. Home league fixtures include ULM (Sept. 24), App State (Oct. 1), Old Dominion (Oct. 11), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 15), and Georgia State (Oct. 25).
Walters said: “The main difference in the 2026 schedule from years before is that the NCAA extended the season of games to 14 weeks and added an extra two weeks of preseason.” He continued: “This helps us better prepare…with now a four-week run up to our first countable game vs [the] old two-week sprint…JMU is committed to our program and supporting these changes to help us compete nationally.”
The Sun Belt Championship will again take place at Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama for its eleventh consecutive year with quarterfinals set for Nov. 9 followed by semifinals on Nov.11 and championship match on Nov .14.
Looking ahead , James Madison aims both for strong regular-season results as well as postseason success under these new scheduling adjustments.
