BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Lindenwood has been picked as the preseason favorite for the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference women’s soccer season.
 
The Lions picked up nine of 16 first-place votes to tally 93 points, which was six points ahead of second place Eastern Illinois, who picked up six first-place votes. Lindenwood is coming off its second consecutive appearence in the OVC tournament championship match. Southern Indiana gained the final two first-place votes and was selected to finish third with 77 points.

UT Martin was picked fourth (55) and is followed by SIUE (52), Southeast Missouri (39), Morehead State (31) and Western Illinois (14).

The 2026 season returns nine members of the 2025 All-OVC team, including Goalkeeper of the Year Ella Kratochvil (EIU).

This year marks the 28th OVC Championship Tournament. The event starts on campus sites with the first round on November 5 as the No. 5 seed hosts No. 8 while No. 6 hosts No. 7. The winners will move on to the second round where the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds host matches on Nov, 8.

The event switches to the site of the No. 1 seed the following weekend with semifinal and Championship matches on November 12 and 15.