Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University women's soccer team enters the 2026 season looking to turn the page under new head coach Jaclyn Ketter. After finishing 3-11-4 overall and 1-9-4 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play a season ago, the Cardinals will look to build a new identity while turning a number of close matches into victories.
Despite their record, Wheeling's defense kept the Cardinals competitive throughout much of the 2025 campaign, allowing just 30 goals across 18 matches for a 1.67 goals-against average. On the other side of the ball, Wheeling scored 20 goals, with 10 different players finding the back of the net.
The Cardinals also enter 2026 with plenty of experience returning, headlined by senior Graceylyn Hanna. In 2025, she led the team with four goals across 27 shots and added three assists, totaling 11 points. She will be alongside fellow key contributors Lily Hanna, Maira Alevato, Ainslie Reuben and Talia Salvador.
Lily Hanna returns as Wheeling's top returning playmaker after producing two goals and a team-high five assists for nine points. She appeared in 16 matches and made 15 starts, giving the Cardinals another experienced offensive option.
Wheeling will also look to Maira Alevato to provide additional production after she recorded two goals and 22 shots in 16 appearances last season. Rosie Caley, who scored three goals while leading the team with 30 shots, also returns as another attacking presence.
Defensively, the Cardinals will look for continued contributions from Ainslie Reuben and Talia Salvador. Reuben started 12 of her 15 appearances in 2025, while Salvador started all 16 of her matches, providing valuable experience on the defensive side of the field.
One of the biggest questions entering the season will come between the posts. With Sam Faulkner and Akyla Walcott departing, Wheeling will feature a new starting goalkeeper in 2026. The Cardinals used several goalkeepers throughout the 2025 season, with Faulkner, Deetya Satyal and Walcott handling the majority of the workload.
Transfers Madison Reis-Elba and Alba Lopez Guerrero, along with freshman Katelyn MacInnis, will compete for the starting role. With the Cardinals' defense already showing the ability to keep opponents within reach last season, finding a consistent presence in goal could be one of the most important pieces of Ketter's first season.
Ketter's first recruiting class brings significant new blood to the Cardinals, with 11 freshmen and four transfers joining the program. Fifth-year Liz Sinatra also joins the soccer roster after previously competing for Wheeling's women's rugby program.
The size of the incoming class gives Ketter an opportunity to reshape the roster while surrounding the returning veterans with a large group of new faces. How quickly that group adjusts to the college game and builds chemistry with the returning core could play a major role in the Cardinals' success.
In the 2026 MEC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, the Cardinals were picked to finish sixth in the North Division, earning 18 points in voting conducted by the league's coaches. Fairmont State was selected as the division favorite with 59 points and nine first-place votes, followed by Frostburg State and West Liberty, who tied for second with 51 points each.
A daunting schedule lies ahead as the Ketter-era-Cardinals will open the 2026 campaign with three consecutive road matches. Wheeling travels to Walsh on August 27 before making trips to Lake Erie on September 2 and Point Park on September 6.
The Cardinals finally return to Bishop Schmitt Field on September 9 for their home opener against Frostburg State. Four days later, Wheeling welcomes rival West Liberty to campus, looking to build off its 1-0 victory over the Hilltoppers last season that snapped a three-match losing streak in the series.
Fairmont State and Concord are the other two home matchups in September. Road opponents across the month include Davis & Elkins on September 16, West Virginia State on September 23 and West Virginia Wesleyan on the final day of the month.
October opens with a stretch of home contests, as the Cardinals host Charleston on October 4, Shawnee State on October 7 and Davis & Elkins on October 14, with a trip to Glenville State coming in between.
The final weeks of the regular season will feature road tests against Fairmont State and Frostburg State before the Cardinals return home for Senior Day against Point Park on October 25. Wheeling will close the regular season on October 28 with a trip to West Liberty.
The 2026 season represents a new chapter for Wheeling women's soccer. Ketter takes over a program with a proven defensive foundation, a senior leading scorer returning and a roster filled with both experienced contributors and new talent. The Cardinals will need to replace their top goalkeeping options while finding more consistent offensive production, but the pieces are in place for a different-looking team in 2026.
