MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The first season of the second Jon Ireland era of Faulkner Women's Soccer will kickoff on August 20 at Shorter with the home opener set for two days later against crosstown foe Huntingdon. The fixture list features five nonconference contests and 13 conference games in the 14-team SSAC Women's Soccer field.
The first contest of the year will be the fifth straight season Faulkner and Shorter will meet. Faulkner is unbeaten in that run and has won six of the seven last meetings dating to 2009.
The home opener against Huntingdon on August 22, 2026 will mark the first time since 2006, when Ireland was in charge first, that the two sides have met in a counting contest. Faulkner won the match 12-2 with seven goals from Faulkner Hall of Famer Nikki Jagt. Faulkner is 1-1 in counting contests against the crosstown foe.
The next weekend, the Lady Eagles will play a pair of games in West Point, Ga. taking on a pair of foes out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Bryan and Columbia International on August 27 and 29, respectively. It will be the first meetings in women's soccer for both contests. Bryan is coming off a 4-12-1 year and Columbia International a 13-6-1 2025 campaign before they lost to Warner in the NCCAA South Region Tournament opener.
Faulkner wraps up the nonconference schedule with a Sept. 5 meeting with Ave Maria. Three of the four meetings all-time with the Gyrenes have been decided by one goal or a draw, including last season's 1-1 draw in Southwest Florida.
Faulkner opens conference play on Sept. 11 at Dalton State, playing a 6:30 contest. Before last season's 4-0 loss, the Roadrunners and Lady Eagles had played three contests with just one total goal between the sides. Faulkner is looking for its first win over DSC since April 3, 2021 in the COVID season.
The schedule then brings three straight NAIA Women's Soccer National championship sides across the field from Faulkner. The Lady Eagles travel to No. 13* Life on Sept. 13 before welcoming (RV) Xavier (La.) to Billy D. Hilyer Stadium for the first time in league play on Sept. 17 and No. 9 William Carey on Sept. 19. Life finished the season 18-3-1, XULA 12-3-4 and William Carey finished 20-2. Both Life and WCU were in the NAIA Round of 16 with XULA being knocked out by Carey in the Second Round.
The five game homestand continues with a Sept. 24 meeting against Brewton-Parker and 26th against Thomas before Mobile comes to The Bill on Oct. 3. The matchup with Brewton-Parker is the program's 24th matchup with the Barons; Faulkner is 3-0-1 in the last four and 14-6-3 overall. Faulkner seeks its first win over Thomas since 2011 (0-5 since) and just the fourth win against Mobile (3-17-1 all-time).
The Lady Eagles travel to Blue Mountain and UT Southern the following weekend. Faulkner is undefeated against BMCU (5-0) and has never beaten UT Southern (0-20). The Firehawks are looking to bounce back from their first season missing the national tournament since 2004.
Homecoming weekend features a pair of home games with a Thursday night Battle of I-85 against Point and welcoming Andrew College to Montgomery for the first time in a counting varsity contest in Andrew's first year as a four-year on Oct. 17 for the home finale. Faulkner is 5-4-4 all-time against the Skyhawks and look to avenge last year's loss to the rival, the first since 2019.
Faulkner closes out the regular season with a trip to another new SSAC school, Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga. on Oct. 22 with the finale coming at Abraham Baldwin on the 24th. Faulkner is 1-0-1 against Wesleyan including a 10-0 win on the road in 2022. Faulkner is 2-0 against ABAC with a +22 goal differential.
The SSAC Women's Soccer Championship starts on Oct. 29-31 with the quarterfinals at campus sites with the semifinals set for Nov. 5 and 7 at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex in town. The NAIA Opening Round is set for Nov. 19-21 at campus sites with the Final Site scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 7 in Decatur, Ala.
*=All rankings from last season's postseason poll
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Lady Eagle reserves will take the field five times with familiar names filling the schedule.
Faulkner starts the season on Sept. 14 against Tennessee Southern before returning the trip on Oct. 5. The Lady Eagles won the 2024 matchup in Pulaski 3-0.
The Lady Eagles travel on Sept. 21 to US Sports University to take on the new NAIA Eagles looking to avenge last year's 2-0 loss.
The other two games will be contested against Mobile at home on Sept. 29 and on the road on Oct. 19. The two were scheduled to play twice last season, but were unable to play the contests.
