Nine home matches headline women’s soccer's 2026 schedule
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women’s soccer head coach Simon Duffy has officially announced the team’s schedule for the upcoming 2026 season.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's soccer head coach Simon Duffy has officially announced the team's schedule for the upcoming 2026 season.
The Eagles have put together a 17-game slate which features nine home games and the other eight on the road. They will also see four teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025 and three that won at least a game while in the postseason.
Six of C-N's 17 games this season will be against clubs that won 10 or more games in 2025, including two right away. The 2026 season begins August 27 against Young Harris on the road. Two days later, C-N hosts Montevallo for its home opener. Those two clubs combined for 23 wins in 2025 with Montevallo making the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
"We try and build our non-conference slate to make it tough," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "We want to be in the mix come the end of the year. Adding in teams that have a good pedigree, just looking forward to playing these teams."
A matchup with Union follows on Sept 2, marking the only time during the 2026 season that the Eagles will play consecutive non-conference matches. The rest of Carson-Newman's non-conference slate are all somewhat new faces. For the first time since 2017, Peach Belt foes Clayton State and Georgia College come to Mossy Creek on Sept 9 and 23. The final two non-conference games are against Conference Carolinas schools, with those being trips to Lees-McRae on Sept 30 and Converse on Oct 14. The matchup with Lees-McRae is the first since 2018, while the final non-conference game of the year against the Valkyries will be just the fourth all-time and first since 2002.
"That's the idea not just getting teams from the Peach Belt or Conference Carolinas, but getting a Montevallo from the Gulf South," Duffy said. "We just want good competition and to be challenged. It's just as hard for these other teams that we don't see as often. It's good for us and our players to be up against new opposition. Going into those games it will be difficult."
There are some unique components to this 2026 slate. Six of the first nine games of the season will be played at McCown Field. The longest road stretch of the year quickly follows, playing three straight on the road spanning the end of September into October. The most interesting and challenging part of this year's schedule is that C-N will play two games every week for over a month straight of the season, from Sept 19 to Oct 18.
"We haven't had that in quite a while," Duffy said. "We've always had kind of a natural break in our season. With the squad size that we will hopefully have, we are going to have a lot of talented players to where we can do a good rotation in there. I think as a staff and the players would rather play than have some off time. It is tough because you are going to be going at every Wednesday Saturday."
Sept 5 is Carson-Newman's South Atlantic Conference opener, on the road against the reigning Southeast champion Lenoir-Rhyne. It will be the program's earliest conference opener in at least the past two decades. The first home conference game is a week later, hosting Newberry. C-N's other road conference games will be against Anderson, Emory & Henry, Tusculum and Catawba in that order. The remaining home conference games are with Mars Hill, Coker, Wingate and Lincoln Memorial. Three of the final four conference games are at McCown Field.
"For us, selfishly we want to get back in the NCAA Tournament," Duffy said. "Missed out last year, but had the taste from the year before. Our conference is just getting stronger and stronger. There are some wonderful teams in the league and I just want us to be in the mix. I think our players are up for the challenge and are up for the good competition ahead."
All of Carson-Newman home games will be available on the Eagle Sports Network on FloSports with a subscription. Road conference games will also be streamed on FloSports as well.
