The Midwest Conference released its 2026 Women's Soccer Coaches Poll on Tuesday and the three-time defending conference champion Foresters were once again atop the rankings.

Voting is done by the MWC head women'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.

The Foresters were a unanimous choice for first place among the other coaches in the league and their 81 points were 11 more than second-place Illinois College. Lawrence University was third with 68 points and Grinnell College fourth with 54. Luther College is new to the league and was fifth with 46 points while Ripon College finished sixth with 41.

Lake year's Foresters began the season with a program record-tying 21 consecutive victories and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. They were 8-0-0 while outscoring their opponents 37-4 in league play and have not dropped a conference game since the 2022 regular season finale, a span of 24 contests.

Led by 2025 Second Team All-MWC selection Veronica Presberg, the Foresters will officially open the season against visiting Milwaukee School of Engineering next Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The team will begin pursuit of a fourth consecutive conference title at Cornell College on Saturday, September 19, and close out the regular season against Knox College on the final day of October. The top six teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will start on November 4. 

Under head coach T.R. Bell, Lake Forest has advanced to 23 of 28 MWC Tournaments and claimed eight of the program's nine conference championships.