BILLINGS, Mont. – A new season is set to dawn for the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team, and with the team set to open regular season action on Thursday, the team will be looking to raise the bar in 2026.
Chief among those objectives needed to raise that bar is the Yellowjackets' goal to qualify for their first GNAC Championship since 2015. Under fourth-year head coach Abiye Jack, the team will hope that this year's iteration of athletes has the right formula for success.
A new-look squad features more new faces than returning players, with an incoming group of 15 first-year players complementing a returning core of 12 Yellowjackets who featured last season for the team. Players from both groups will look to emerge to step into the rotation for a Yellowjackets side that returns only one goal scored from last season, along with a combined 139 appearances and 112 starts departing the program. Coming off a season in which they finished 3-15 overall, and 2-12 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, placing eighth overall in the conference standings, MSUB will need to find that improvement if they hope to end their postseason drought at 10 seasons.
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Returners rundown
Leading the way for those returning players is MSUB's lone returning all-conference selection in Cesia Swain. The fifth-year player from Spanish Fork, Utah, will look to build off a strong season in attack for the Jackets, in which she led the team with four points, scoring one goal and adding a pair of assists. Swain has a proven eye for goal, attempting 31 shots last season with 11 on target, and flashed that ability on Saturday in the Yellowjackets' exhibition against Rocky, where she shot six times, placing three shots on net and scoring an impressive shot from outside the box.
The Yellowjackets' two team captains are also returners from last season, with Ava Curtright set to lead the back line. The junior defender, whose 2025 season was ended early due to injury after four games, will hope to have a season more similar to her 2024 season, when Curtright was named All-GNAC second team and featured in all 18 of the Jackets' contests. Meanwhile, Billings native Abby Thompson enters her first season as a team captain for the Jackets and returns after appearing in all of MSUB's matches last season, making 14 starts and scoring her first career goal.
Alongside them return a number of rising sophomores, including midfielder Cianna Sexton, MSUB's leading returner in minutes played at 1,372 who collected one assist, and Natalie Weinmaster, who featured in 14 games in net for the Jackets, saving 60 shots in total for a save percentage of 70.6%. Defender Peyton Tarabokija returns after playing in each of MSUB's 18 games last season, making 13 starts, and Kennedy Craig will look to expand her role in the attack in 2026 after playing in 15 games as a freshman and collecting her first career assist.
Fellow returners like Kelsie Cox and Alaina Asan will look to carve out expanded roles in the middle of the park, with Cox coming off a season in which she made nine starts in 13 appearances, and Asan made nine appearances off the bench. Joining them is Maggie James, who saw time on the wing in six games, and McKenzie Enright, who made a pair of appearances in defense.
MSUB's final returner from last season's roster is senior Millie Bamer, with the Oregon native set to play an even bigger role after seeing time in 12 games last season, including her first career start.
Fresh faces
Joining that group of returners is a host of newcomers, consisting of 12 freshmen and three transfers. Two of those transfers feature in the back line for MSUB, with defender Vivian Giather joining after two seasons at Quincy University, as well as one semester at Cal State Dominguez Hills, and JUCO product Ava Gibbs entering the fray after being named a two-time first team all-state defender at Lower Columbia College. Meanwhile, forward Taylor Devaney makes her way to MSUB this season after totaling 11 points on four goals and three assists last season at Palomar College.
Of MSUB's incoming freshmen, three are Billings natives. Goalkeeper Tenley Leffler was a two-time all-conference selection at Billings Skyview, along with a three-time MYSA state champion at the club level. Alongside her are a pair of forwards in Emmersyn Burckley, who was the leading scorer for Billings Senior in its 2025 state championship-winning season, and Amaya Lorash, who earned multiple all-state and all-conference selections at Billings Central.
Three more newcomers come into the program from Washington: Addy Jueco, a two-time all-league defender; Annabelle Flick, another defender who is coming into the program following a second team all-state and first team all-league season; and Jordyn Daigle, a forward who was a first team All-NPSL selection in her senior season.
Two more players enter the team from Colorado. Forward Maddy Wright comes to the program after three all-conference seasons, totaling 37 goals and 21 assists across her high school career, and goalkeeper Avery Swope, another one of MSUB's incoming recruits, will fight for time in net this season.
Another PNW prospect in Ryan Westwood joins from Oregon, while farther south from California, midfielder Macee Abraham joins after totaling 90 points in her senior season of high school soccer, scoring 33 goals and totaling 24 assists to earn first team all-state, all-region and all-league honors. MSUB's final two newcomers are Idaho native Kolbi Kiblen, who was named the Idaho 5A Player of the Year in her senior season after helping lead Moscow High School to its first-ever state championship in women's soccer, and Brooklynn Noble, a three-time all-state and all-conference selection from Wyoming, who was one of the top scorers in the state last season.
A full look at the 2026 MSUB women's soccer roster can be found online here.
Preseason review
The Yellowjackets have seen competition twice so far in the preseason, facing off against Central Wyoming College in a scrimmage before taking on Rocky Mountain College in the team's annual Rimrock Rivalry matchup last Saturday. The match between the Jackets and the Battlin' Bears ended in a 2-2 draw, with Cesia Swain and Abby Thompson getting on the scoresheet for MSUB. Despite the level scoreline, the Yellowjackets outshot their opponents in the match 23-9, and 9-5 in shots on goal.
MSUB has one more exhibition game slated on its schedule, heading to Missoula to take on the University of Montana on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Regular-season schedule
The Jackets will open the regular season by playing host to the University of Minnesota Crookston this Thursday, Aug. 27 at Yellowjacket Soccer Field, setting the stage for two more home games the following week against Minnesota State Moorhead and the University of Mary as part of the Rimrock Classic. The team will then hit the road for its final nonconference game of the year against Black Hills State.
The Jackets will remain road warriors at the start of GNAC play as well, with two consecutive weeks of road contests to start conference play. After taking on Western Oregon and Saint Martin's in the first week of conference action, and Western Washington and Simon Fraser in week two, MSUB will return to Yellowjacket Soccer Field next on Oct. 1 and 3, when it will host games against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. They remain at home the next week as the conference schedule crosses the halfway mark, playing host to Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific, before returning to the road for rematches against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.
MSUB will play three of its final four games at home, with the penultimate week of the regular season seeing Simon Fraser and Western Washington come to town. After that, the Jackets head out to Seattle to open the final week of regular-season action against Seattle Pacific, before returning home to wrap up the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 31 against Western Oregon, while also celebrating senior day.
A full detailed look at the Yellowjackets' schedule can be found online here.
Championship calendar
The top four teams in the GNAC regular-season standings punch their ticket to the GNAC Championships, with the Yellowjackets hoping to be among that number this season. The 2026 GNAC Soccer Championships are scheduled for Nov. 5-7 in Monmouth, Oregon, hosted by Western Oregon University.
The GNAC women's soccer championship homepage can be found online here.
How to follow MSUB women's soccer
Each of the Yellowjackets' home matches, as well as all conference away games, will be streamed live on the GNAC Network. Subscription options can be viewed and purchased online here.
Live statistics for each of MSUB's home matches can be found online here.
Yellowjackets women's soccer continues to operate a cashless ticket booth in 2026, with both single-game and season tickets for all MSUB home games available online here. Admission to all Yellowjackets home games is free to all MSUB students and faculty, along with children eighth grade and under.
