VILLANOVA, Pa. – With summer vacations underway for many, eyes are already set on the fall for Villanova Women's Soccer with head coach Samar Azem unveiling the 2026 schedule on Thursday afternoon. The 'Cats will play a home-heavy schedule that features 10 matches inside Higgins Soccer Complex with eight road trips.
 
Year four under Azem saw the Wildcats go 9-8-1 with a 4-5-1 showing in BIG EAST contests. Those nine wins and their .528 winning percentage marked the best for the program in six seasons, also logging their best conference finish in that time with a fifth-place showing on the conference table.
 
The 2026 season begins with three consecutive road contests at Syracuse (August 13), Lehigh (August 16) and Columbia (August 27). Villanova opens the gates to Higgins on August 30 as it welcomes Iona to kick off a six-game homestand that lasts through much of September. In that time, the 'Cats will host Penn (September 3), Bucknell (September 10), Delaware (September 17) and Princeton for a senior day showdown on September 20. The BIG EAST slate opens on September 26 when St. John's comes to town with the final match of September taking the 'Cats to Omaha, Nebraska to face Creighton.
 
October begins with the top two teams from last year's BIG EAST table making their way to the Main Line. Reigning regular season champion Georgetown comes in on October 3 with  BIG EAST Tournament champion Xavier visiting four days later. The middle of October sends the team to Providence, Seton Hall and Butler before coming back to the home turn to face DePaul on October 28. Villanova's last trip of the regular season happens on Halloween at Marquette before coming back home on November 7 to host UConn in the Alumni Day regular season finale.
 
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