The Midwest Conference released its 2026 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll Tuesday morning and the Foresters were second in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head men's soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Luther College, which joined the league this year, is atop the poll with 81 points and nine of the coaches had the Norse above the rest on their ballots. The Foresters received the other first place vote and tallied 72 points. Grinnell (57 points) and Illinois College (51) rounded out the top four and were followed by Beloit College (47) and Ripon College (43).
The 2025 Foresters set a program record with 19 victories against just two losses on the season. They were 8-0-0 in MWC play to claim their third conference title in the last four years and the league record 20th in school history. Lake Forest also won the MWC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row, seventh time in the last 13 seasons, and 12th time in program history.
Four of the Foresters' eight All-MWC selections from 2025 are back this fall, including first team selection Sam Satisky and two-time second team honoree Andrew Swacha, who was one of the team's four goalies to combine for 14 shutouts a season ago.
Under the direction of 11th-year head coach Dan Andrews, the Foresters will officially open the 2026 season at Elmhurst University next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. The team will then travel to the west coast for games at the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University the following weekend before the first home game against Benedictine University on September 9. Lake Forest's league opener will be played at Cornell College on September 19 and the conference schedule will conclude on the final day of October. The top six teams in the standings advance to the MWC Tournament, which will begin on November 4.
