CLEVELAND, Ga. – The Truett McConnell women's soccer team opens the 2026 schedule on Thursday, August 20 following a historic campaign in 2025
 
The Lady Bears are coming off a 19-2-2 campaign in 2025, which saw the team win the AAC regular season championship with a 13-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference record. They also made a run to the quarterfinals in the NAIA National Tournament, the first appearance in program history.
 
"With how we finished last season, there's a belief that we can do more," Head coach David McDowell said. "There is a desire and hunger in both the returners and newcomers to this team."
 
Senior and team captain Isabella Hodson returns to the team after a stellar 2025 season which included 17 goals scored and 42 total points. She was also named First-Team All-AAC.
 
"Isabella sets herself to very high standards and is a professional," McDowell said. "She loves the team doing well just as much as her own success."
 
Also returning for the Lady Bears is reigning AAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Erin Ward, who played a key role in allowing just 14 goals in the 2025 season. Ward herself contributed two goals and four assists offensively.
 
In net, the team will feature two new goalkeepers in senior Leira Najera and freshman Noa del Rio. Najera is new to the program after transferring from Albany State. She posted a .713 save percentage with the Golden Rams last season.
 
"The hope is that Leira, with her experience, can help solidify the back end," McDowell said. "What she has in front of her is good with upper-class, high-quality defenders."
 
Seniors Nela Sechterova, Grace Montgomery and Alli Jones also return to TMU for the 2026 season. The featured junior on the team is Peyton Brooks, who produced ten points last season with five goals. Morgan Morreale made 17 starts as a sophomore last season while Evangelina Seidel made 18 starts in 22 games appeared.
 
Overall, the roster make-up of the team includes 19 total players from the home state of Georgia and one player each from Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Internationally, three players originate from France and Spain, with two players coming from England. The roster has one player from Czechia, Scotland, Venezuela, Northern Ireland and Austria, respectively.
 
The Lady Bears aim for their fifth consecutive AAC regular season championship and their fourth AAC tournament championship in five years. The team will also look to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament for the ninth straight season.
 
"The standard for excellence, on and off the pitch, is the standard for our program," McDowell said. "On the field, we want to get better one game at a time. Off the field, we want to be a light on our campus and help grow a relationship with God."
 
The team begins the season next Thursday with a 1 p.m. match start time vs. SCAD-Savannah at the TMU Soccer Complex.