ALLENDALE – The Grand Valley State women's soccer team is set to begin the 2026 season Thursday (Aug. 27) evening when they travel to face #22 Ashland at 6:00 PM. The Lakers were ranked 19^th in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll.
 
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GVSU will be guided by second year head coach Katelyn Longino. The Lakers posted a 19-2-1 record in the 2025 season, winning the GLIAC regular season championship with a 13-1 conference mark and the GLIAC tournament championship. 
 
GVSU returns eight starters from last season's team led by sophomore All-American goalkeeper Macie Hunter. Hunter was named a D2CCA third team All-American and earned GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year honors as a freshman. She posted a 17-1-1 record in goal with 29 saves and 12 shutouts. Senior defender Acadia Murphy returns after earning first team All-Region and All-Conference honors in the 2025 season. Murphy started in all 22 games and ranked second on the team in minutes played. First team All-Conference performer Sarah Fromm returns for her junior season after leading the Lakers in goals scored in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
 
The Lakers also welcome four transfers and eight freshmen to Allendale this fall. Defensively, Ana Spaine and Rachael Wright will be key contributors to the Laker backline. Spaine spent three seasons at St. Cloud State and was a two-time All-Region and All-Conference performer for the Huskies in 2024 and 2025. Wright is a transfer from Wake Forest where she spent one season with the Demon Deacons in 2025. Transfers Lina Rea and Ava Kozak will look to be key contributors for the Laker offense this season. Rea spent two seasons at Hope College and was an All-Region and All-Conference performer last year. Kozak spent one season at Marquette in 2025 appearing in four matches. 
 
This will be the fourth consecutive season that GVSU and Ashland will meet in the season opener. The Lakers are 2-1 during that span including a 1-0 win last season in Katelyn Longino's GVSU coaching debut. GVSU leads the all-time series against the Eagles 23-11-2 including having won the past three matchups. 
 
Ashland enters the season as the preseason favorite in the GMAC. The Eagles are ranked 22^nd in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. Last season, Ashland posted a 14-3-5 overall record and won the GMAC championship with a 10-0-4 conference mark. The Eagles went 8-1-2 at home last year with their lone loss coming from GVSU. 
 
The game will be streamed live on FloCollege. Follow @GVSUSoccer on X for live in-game updates and visit gvsulakers.com for links to live video and live stats.