Women’s Soccer 2026 Season Preview
8/18/2026
Brown enters the 2026 season looking to build off a strong run of success, posting a 67-20-17 overall record and 31-4-6 Ivy League mark over the last six competitive seasons dating back to 2019.
The Bears have captured four Ivy League titles during that span, and the program leads the Ivy League with 16 overall conference championships in the team’s history. Brown has also qualified for the Ivy League Tournament in each of the three years of the event’s existence beginning in 2023.
Behind a strong nucleus of returning student-athletes and an exciting group of newcomers, Brown will open the season with a home matchup against New Haven on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
Non-League Schedule
Brown competes in nine non-league contests to open its 2026 schedule, including five matchups at home and four games on the road, including matches with power conference opponents and in-state rivals.
After opening the season at home against New Haven (Aug. 20), the Bears play their first road game at Holy Cross (Aug. 23) before hosting UConn (Aug. 27).
Following a road trip to play at Penn State (Aug. 30), Brown returns home for consecutive games at Stevenson-Pincince Field against UMass (Sept. 3) and UCF (Sept. 6).
Over its final three non-league games, Brown plays at Rhode Island (Sept. 10) and at Hofstra (Sept. 13) before hosting Providence (Sept. 17) in its non-league finale.
Ivy Schedule
Brown plays seven straight Ivy League games from Sept. 26 to Nov. 7 to close out its 2026 regular season schedule.
The Bears open conference play at home against Columbia (Sept. 26) before playing at Penn (Oct. 3) in their first away league game.
Brown closes the month of October with three of its four games at Stevenson-Pincince Field with home matchups against Yale (Oct. 10), Harvard (Oct. 24), and Cornell (Oct. 31) alongside a road game at Dartmouth (Oct. 17).
The Bears conclude the regular season at Princeton (Nov. 7) before embarking on potential postseason play.
Key Returners
Among 2025 All-Ivy selections, Brown returns 2025 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Ivy pick Joy Okonye and also brings back three 2025 Second Team All-Ivy honorees in Corine Gregory, Audrey Lam, and Ayla Sahin as well as 2025 Honorable Mention All-Ivy pick Brooke Birtwistle.
Okonye posted 19 points on seven goals and five assists a season ago while Sahin notched 11 points behind five goals and one assist. Gregory added eight points on four goals while Lam and Birtwistle both started all 17 games.
Other experienced players from last season’s team include Angelina Vargas (nine points, three goals, three assists), Jael-Marie Guy (seven points, three goals, one assist), Kyra Treanor (17 games played, 16 games started), Nadja Meite (17 games played, 13 starts), and Chesney Robinson (14 games played, 14 starts).
In goal, Addison Etter returns after making four appearances with three starts and a 1.59 GAA last fall as does Gurleen Toor who played in four games with two starts and a 0.00 ERA.
Newcomers
Brown welcomes a group of 10 newcomers to the team this fall in a Class of 2030 that includes Charlie Banbury, Danielle Bobowski, Maja Cénanovic, Sydney Dunn, Taylor Green, Madison Malek, Bianca Putanec, Georgia Steinbach, Chloe Shin, and Anya Tansil.
The class includes three student-athletes from the state of California, two each from Canada and Michigan, and one each from Connecticut, New Jersey, and Hawaii in a group that gives the Bears balance across the pitch.
Ivy League
The Ivy League perennial stands as a highly competitive conference with the NCAA women’s soccer landscape, and the 2026 season stands to continue that trend.
Brown (98 points, two first-place votes) took the No. 3 spot in the 2026 Ivy League Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll behind first-place Princeton (120 points, 10 first-place votes) and second-place Dartmouth (109 points, four first-place votes).
The Bears open their 2026 Ivy slate with a home match against Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 26 at noon (ESPN+) at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
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