NEW ORLEANS – The second half of the penultimate week of the 2026 Sun Belt Conference women’s soccer regular season kicks off Sunday with crucial matchups across a full slate of matches. All seven contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
DUKES CONTROL DESTINY
James Madison (9-5-1, 7-1-0 SBC) stands alone atop the Sun Belt standings and controls its own destiny to an outright regular season championship and can clinch the title with a victory over Georgia State (10-4-2, 5-2-1 SBC). The crown would be the Dukes’ second in the last three seasons, as they would also clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship. James Madison has won five-straight matches and scored multiple goals in each contest during that span while outscoring opponents, 12-4.

STARS COLLIDE
Two Sun Belt forwards - James Madison’s Ginny Lackey and Georgia State’s Aaliyah Faddoul – will face off against one another Sunday afternoon, as both players eclipsed the 30-goal milestone for their careers this season and continue to climb the conference’s all-time scoring lists. Lackey leads the conference with 13 goals this season while Faddoul’s 10 goals rank third. Lackey currently ranks tied for 11th in Sun Belt history in points (91) and goals (36), as Faddoul is just behind with 83 points and 32 goals. Among active NCAA Division I players, Lackey currently ranks tied for seventh and Faddoul stands 12th in career goals, while Lackey’s 91-career points rank tied for sixth among active scorers and Faddoul’s 83 points rank 12th.
 
MASHUP IN THE MOUNTAINS
Marshall (7-4-5, 3-2-3 SBC, 14 points) hosts App State (9-3-4, 4-2-2 SBC, 12 points) in a matchup between the Sun Belt’s fourth and fifth place teams. The Thundering Herd own a 4-0-3 record on their home field this season and remain unbeaten in Huntington, W.Va., in 12-consecutive outings (7-0-5) dating back to the end of the 2024 campaign and nine-straight (5-0-4) Sun Belt contests. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers have earned seven of their 10 points on the road this season which includes wins at Louisiana Tech and Georgia Southern and a draw at Arkansas State.
 
BATTLE OF THE BIRDS
Southern Miss (6-6-3, 3-4-1 SBC) hosts Georgia Southern (8-4-3, 3-3-1 SBC) in a critical battle between teams tied for seventh place in the conference standings with 10 points each. Five teams sit no more than three points behind both teams in the standings with just a few games left in the season and only eight teams advancing to the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship in Foley, Ala. Georgia Southern currently leads the league in shots per game (16.29) in conference play and ranks second in points per game (5.29) and goals per game (1.86).

SUN BELT IN THE RPI
The Sun Belt leads all non-autonomy conference with six teams ranked in the top 100 of the latest NCAA RPI rankings, led by No. 65 Old Dominion, No. 66 James Madison, No. 67 Georgia Southern, No. 78 App State, No. 88 Louisiana and No. 100 Georgia State. The total also gives the Sun Belt the fifth-most top 100 programs among all NCAA Division I conferences, trailing only the ACC (17), Big Ten (13), SEC (13) and Big 12 (12),

WHERE TO WATCH

Date	Time	Matchup	Broadcast
Sunday, Oct. 25	12:00 p.m.	Georgia State at James Madison	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	12:00 p.m.	App State at Marshall	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	12:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at Troy	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech at Louisiana	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	1:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern at Southern Miss	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	1:00 p.m.	ULM at South Alabama	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 25	1:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Old Dominion	ESPN+

 
FORGING TOWARD FOLEY
The 2026 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship will take place November 9-14 in Foley, Ala., marking the 11th-consecutive season the Foley Sports Tourism Complex hosts the event. Eight teams will compete in the tournament beginning with quarterfinal matches on Monday, Nov. 9, followed by semifinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 11 and the championship on Saturday, Nov. 14. Visit Sunbeltsports.org more information or visit the championship central page.