Coming off its best Northwest Conference finish in 11 years, Pacific's women's soccer opens the 2026 season with something it didn't fully have a year ago — proof.

Head coach Kellan McNamara, entering his third season at the helm, guided the Boxers to a 3-5-8 record and a fifth-place NWC finish in 2025, including draws against conference co-champions Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran. Now, with a deep group of returners paired with an influx of freshmen and transfers, McNamara believes the program is positioned to push even further.

"We've got a good group of returners that are coming in after a successful 2025 season," McNamara said. "They are motivated and ready to compete, and then we've got a great balance of freshmen coming in, transfers coming in that are really adding something to the group as well. A lot of competition, a lot of energy, a lot of confidence. I'm excited to see what we can do this year."

Building on Belief

For McNamara, last season's step forward wasn't just about the standings but about proving to the group what it's capable of.

"I think belief is what it really gives us," he said. "We were able to prove to ourselves last year that we can very much compete in this conference. We're proud of that, but also eager to accomplish more. We think a lot of the same things we did to get us to fifth place last year are things that are going to allow us to proceed to the next level. We've just got to keep developing and keep improving in those areas."

That growth, he added, is already showing up in preseason training.

"I think the competitiveness in training has been fantastic. I think that's going to keep pushing us to get better," McNamara said. "As far as results, it's the consistency and then it's the key moments in every game. Every game in the Northwest Conference is very competitive, very close, a lot of one-goal games. Being consistent, limiting mistakes and then capitalizing in those big moments, those key individual moments that are the difference between a loss and a tie, and a tie and a win, being clinical in those moments and being disciplined will be super important."

A Proactive Identity, On Both Ends

McNamara has been clear about the identity he wants this Boxers team to play with in 2026: aggressive, purposeful and hard to play against in every phase.

"On the field, we want to be a team that is really proactive in all phases of the game," he said. "Defensively, we want to get up the field. We want to press opponents and make things difficult for them. And in the attack, we want to be very purposeful and play a really dynamic, progressive, attacking style."

Offensively, that means variety and numbers forward, even as the Boxers replace their production up top. Pacific graduated its top two goal scorers from a season ago, leaving senior Rissalyn Hara as the leading returning scorer with three goals and two assists in 2025.

"We want to be a very purposeful team in the way we attack," McNamara said. "We want to get numbers forward, we want to get numbers up the field. We want to be able to attack in a variety of ways. Set pieces are important, also within the run of play. We think we have a lot of tools and a lot of variety to how we want to attack. We certainly want to dominate the game on the attacking side as well as the defensive side."

On the back end, McNamara is leaning on a strength that carried the Boxers through 2025, when Pacific posted six shutouts in conference play.

"I think defending is about organization and effort. I think that's something we continue to do well," he said. "I'm excited about the group of defenders we've got returning, and goalkeepers as well — we've got a really strong group. It's the individual players we have there, but it's also just the team organization, the team commitment to defending. We would like to strive to defend more aggressively, a little bit higher up, to create more on the attacking side. We're working on that as well."

Part of that goalkeeping strength is Jaelynn Moo, who returns after splitting time in net last season. Moo recorded four shutouts and 16 saves across seven starts in 2025.

Selfless and Gritty

Beyond tactics, McNamara has centered the team's preseason messaging on culture, specifically, two words he's repeated often with his players.

"We talked as a team about being selfless and gritty. I think those are two huge keys to what we want to do," he said. "We want to be great teammates. We want to sacrifice in everything we do, put the team above ourselves. That will be huge. And then the grit, embracing the challenging parts of the game, embracing the challenging parts of being on a team and playing college soccer. Hopefully you see a very gritty team and a very selfless team. I think we've seen that already."

That competitive spirit, McNamara said, has already been on display in exhibition play.

"The final piece is a team that just really enjoys competing with one another and enjoys playing the game and giving their absolute all," he said. "We've seen that so far in the first couple of games, and I'm excited to build on that."

Depth Across the Roster

If there's one word McNamara keeps coming back to when describing this year's roster, it's depth and the number of players he expects to push for playing time.

Anchoring that group is senior Ruby Waters, who earned second team all-conference honors as a defender last season and returns as a veteran presence on the back line McNamara has praised throughout the preseason.

"I think we've got a very deep group," he said. "There's a lot of players we're expecting to step up this year that are returners, there's also a ton of freshmen and transfers that have come in and already made an impact. Just a lot to be excited about. We're very motivated for that and excited to put on a good performance."

With a roster that blends proven NWC competitors and new pieces still finding their footing, the Boxers head into 2026 with a clear identity and, per McNamara, a belief that fifth place was a floor — not a ceiling.

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