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James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Women's Soccer Unveils 2026 Schedule
4/27/2026 10:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison women's soccer has revealed its 2026 schedule, Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr. announced on Monday morning.
"I am very excited about the 2026 schedule. It is another year where we have a challenging slate," Walters said.
The Dukes will play a 19-match schedule in the fall, with half the contests taking place at Sentara Park.
James Madison will kick off the season at home with a pair of matches against NC State (Aug. 12) and George Mason (Aug. 16). James Madison will close out August with three matches on the road, traveling to Georgia (Aug. 20), Virginia (Aug. 27) and Princeton (Aug. 30).
JMU will open the month of September with two home games as part of the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational, hosting Georgetown on Sept. 3 and UNC Greensboro on Sept. 6. The Dukes will close out their non-conference schedule on the road, heading to Liberty (Sept. 10) and Loyola Maryland (Sept. 13).
"Our goal is to give us two opportunities at the NCAA tournament," Walters added. "With the non-conference you must climb the RPI ladder to be in the mix for a NCAA at large tournament bid through the quality of opponent. Results against top 1-50 along with wins overall creates the resume to be considered. Then in Sun Belt play, the tough non-conference games will prepare us to make a run at a Sun Belt tournament championship through the regular season conference gauntlet. The Sun Belt as a conference has taken big strides nationally elevating the conference in RPI. As a program, you must grow through the conference season to be there at the end in the championship game. Winning the Sun Belt tournament is an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament."
The Dukes will open their Sun Belt schedule away from home, heading to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss on Sept. 18. The remaining road league matches for JMU feature Marshall (Sept. 27), Arkansas State (Oct. 8), Coastal Carolina (Oct. 22), and Georgia Southern (Nov. 1).
Following the conference opener, James Madison will welcome ULM to Sentara Park on Sept. 24. The Dukes will also host App State (Oct. 1), Old Dominion (Oct. 11), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 15), and Georgia State (Oct. 25).
"The main difference in the 2026 schedule from years before is that the NCAA extended the season of games to 14 weeks and added an extra 2 weeks of preseason," Walters said. "This helps us better prepare the players for the demands of the games in preseason with now a 4-week run up to the first countable game vs the old 2-week sprint. Then the extra 2 weeks going from a 12-week season to a 14-week season allows us to balance out more single game weekends and have a much better periodization of work to rest for development and recovery. JMU is committed to our program and supporting these changes to help us compete nationally."
The Sun Belt Championship will be held at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Ala. for the 11th straight season. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Nov. 9, followed by the semifinals on Nov. 11, and the championship on Nov. 14.
"I am very excited about the 2026 schedule. It is another year where we have a challenging slate," Walters said.
The Dukes will play a 19-match schedule in the fall, with half the contests taking place at Sentara Park.
James Madison will kick off the season at home with a pair of matches against NC State (Aug. 12) and George Mason (Aug. 16). James Madison will close out August with three matches on the road, traveling to Georgia (Aug. 20), Virginia (Aug. 27) and Princeton (Aug. 30).
JMU will open the month of September with two home games as part of the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational, hosting Georgetown on Sept. 3 and UNC Greensboro on Sept. 6. The Dukes will close out their non-conference schedule on the road, heading to Liberty (Sept. 10) and Loyola Maryland (Sept. 13).
"Our goal is to give us two opportunities at the NCAA tournament," Walters added. "With the non-conference you must climb the RPI ladder to be in the mix for a NCAA at large tournament bid through the quality of opponent. Results against top 1-50 along with wins overall creates the resume to be considered. Then in Sun Belt play, the tough non-conference games will prepare us to make a run at a Sun Belt tournament championship through the regular season conference gauntlet. The Sun Belt as a conference has taken big strides nationally elevating the conference in RPI. As a program, you must grow through the conference season to be there at the end in the championship game. Winning the Sun Belt tournament is an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament."
The Dukes will open their Sun Belt schedule away from home, heading to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss on Sept. 18. The remaining road league matches for JMU feature Marshall (Sept. 27), Arkansas State (Oct. 8), Coastal Carolina (Oct. 22), and Georgia Southern (Nov. 1).
Following the conference opener, James Madison will welcome ULM to Sentara Park on Sept. 24. The Dukes will also host App State (Oct. 1), Old Dominion (Oct. 11), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 15), and Georgia State (Oct. 25).
"The main difference in the 2026 schedule from years before is that the NCAA extended the season of games to 14 weeks and added an extra 2 weeks of preseason," Walters said. "This helps us better prepare the players for the demands of the games in preseason with now a 4-week run up to the first countable game vs the old 2-week sprint. Then the extra 2 weeks going from a 12-week season to a 14-week season allows us to balance out more single game weekends and have a much better periodization of work to rest for development and recovery. JMU is committed to our program and supporting these changes to help us compete nationally."
The Sun Belt Championship will be held at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Ala. for the 11th straight season. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Nov. 9, followed by the semifinals on Nov. 11, and the championship on Nov. 14.
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