NEW ORLEANS – A high-stakes, Royal Rivalry matchup between James Madison and Old Dominion - the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference women’s soccer standings - headlines a full Sunday slate of games on Oct. 11, as teams kick off the second half of the conference schedule. All seven matches will be available on ESPN+>
 
ROYAL RIVALRY
Sitting alone atop the Sun Belt standings at the season’s halfway mark, James Madison (6-5-1, 4-1-0 SBC, 12 points) hosts Old Dominion (5-5-2, 3-0-2 SBC, 11 points) for the latest installment of the Royal Rivalry in Harrisonburg, Va., at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT. The Dukes own an 18-9-2 record in the all-time series dating back to 1994 and own an unblemished 12-0-0 mark on their home field against the Monarchs. JMU forward Ginny Lackey ranks second in the Sun Belt in goals (10) and points per game (1.83) and first in shots on goal (25) while scoring two goals in each of the Dukes’ last two games, respectively. Old Dominion enters Sunday’s matchup riding a five-match unbeaten streak and has not allowed a single goal in conference play this season.
 
MULTI-GOAL MANIA
In 2026, Sun Belt players have combined for 33 total multi-goal performances between 27 different players, while nine of them have occurred in conference matches by seven players. In fact, five multi-goal efforts have occurred within the last week of Sun Belt action:

1. Madison Pensom, Louisiana Tech - 3 goals vs. ULM (10/4)
2. Ginny Lackey, James Madison - 2 goals at Arkansas State (10/7)
3. Ellie Garrison, App State - 3 goals at Georgia Southern (10/8)
4. Olivia Goretski, Coastal Carolina - 2 goals vs. Southern Miss (10/8)
5. Ashley Economopoulos, Old Dominion - 2 goals vs. Marshall (10/8)

30 & COUNTING
Two Sun Belt forwards - James Madison’s Ginny Lackey and Georgia State’s Aaliyah Faddoul - have reached the 30-goal milestone for their careers this season. Lackey has now scored at least 10 goals in each of her first three seasons with her career total at 33 scores, while Faddoul’s nine goals this season match her career-high set in 2024 and give her 31-career goals. Among active NCAA Division I players, Lackey currently ranks tied for 10th and Faddoul is tied for 12th in career goals. Lackey’s 84-career points are tied for eighth among active scorers, while Faddoul’s 80 points rank 11th.
 
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Just three Sun Belt teams remain unbeaten on their home fields this season, and two of them will play within their friendly confines Sunday afternoon including Georgia State (6-0-0) and Marshall (3-0-3). Marshall is unbeaten in Huntington, W.Va., in 11-consecutive outings (6-0-5) dating back to the end of the 2024 campaign and eight-straight (4-0-4) Sun Belt contests before hosting ULM in a rematch of last season’s Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals. In Atlanta, Georgia State welcomes Louisiana, where the visiting Ragin’ Cajuns have not won since 2013 despite playing to draws in 2016, 2017 and 2022.
 
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. 56 App State, No. 62 Georgia Southern, No. 66 Old Dominion, No. 84 Louisiana, No. 91 James Madison and No. 96 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 (14), SEC (14) and Big 12 (12),

WHERE TO WATCH
 

Date	Time	Matchup	Broadcast
Sunday, Oct. 11	12:00 p.m.	Louisiana at Georgia State	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	12:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at App State	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	1:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern at South Alabama	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	1:00 p.m.	Troy at Southern Miss	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	1:00 p.m.	Arkansas State at Louisiana Tech	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	2:00 p.m.	ULM at Marshall	ESPN+
Sunday, Oct. 11	5:00 p.m.	Old Dominion at James Madison	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.