MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Concordia University Wisconsin has been named the favorite to capture the 2026 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) softball title, according to the annual preseason poll announced Wednesday.

The Falcons secured the top spot with 321 points and 14 first-place votes, just ahead of second place Benedictine University and third place Dominican University. The Eagles finished with 306 points and eight first-place votes, while the Stars totaled 298 points and the last four first-place votes from the voting panel that consisted of the league's head coaches and one member from each institution's athletics communications staff.

Aurora University slotted into fourth place with 224 points, just one marker clear of Milwaukee School of Engineering (223) in fifth and five clear of Concordia University Chicago (219) in sixth. Marian University (199) and Lakeland University (177) have been given the final two presumptive NACC Tournament slots, while Edgewood University (116), St. Norbert College (109), Rockford University (78), Wisconsin Lutheran College (70), and Alverno College (26) round out the poll.

2025 Recap
Concordia Wisconsin and Dominican tied for the regular-season crown with matching 19-5 records, finishing a full three games clear of the rest of the field. It was the second straight title for the Stars and fifth NACC crown since 2019 for the Falcons.

In the NACC Tournament, top-seeded CUW opened with a 7-0 win over fifth-seeded MSOE, then took two of three games from third-seeded Benedictine over the course of two days to win the program's fourth NACC Tournament title. Benedictine sidelined No. 7-seed Lakeland and No. 2-seed Dominican to advance to the tournament final.

A total of nine student-athletes representing three institutions were named all-region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Concordia Wisconsin catcher Megan Bloyer and Dominican pitcher Emma Woodhouse were named to the first team, while CUW shortstop Jess Pozezinski was a second-team pick. Benedictine's Mckenzie Johnson (P), Morgan Bruno (C), and Haley Barnes (3B), Concordia Wisconsin's Emma Shellstrom (P) and Kaitlyn Way (DP/UT), and Dominican's Bella Olmos (2B) all landed on the third team.

Pozezinski was selected by the coaches at the NACC Player of the Year, while Woodhouse and Olmos were named Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Concordia Chicago, led by head coach Sarah O'Malley-Fisher, was recognized its peers as the NACC Coaching Staff of the Year.

New Coaches
There will be three new head coaches in NACC softball dugouts this season. At St. Norbert, Maddie Fink takes over at St. Norbert for JoAnn Krueger, who retired last spring after 27 seasons and 446 victories. Fink, who served as an assistant last season, is just three seasons removed from a stellar pitching career at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where she compiled a 53-14 record with 342 strikeouts and a 1.73 earned run average. She was a two-time all-region honoree and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Pitcher of the Year in 2021 when she led the Titans to an appearance in the finals of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

Erin Skinner has been named the head coach at Edgewood. Skinner moves from one Madison (South Dakota) to another (Wisconsin) after spending the past two seasons at Dakota State University where she coached two North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Gold Glove Outfielder selections, three NSAA First Team selections, and one NSAA Second Team selection. She was also the head coach at Presentation (S.D.) College in 2023 and spent time as a graduate assistant at Doane (Neb.) University before moving to Lyon (Ark.) College as an assistant. As a player, Skinner was a four-year letterwinner at Lindenwood University-Belleville.

The final new head coach is at Alverno, where Shawn Grimm assumes head coaching duties after working last season as the hitting coach at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Prior to Minnesota-Morris, Grimm coached for well over a decade in the state of Wisconsin, spending time at Waukesha North (2011-2021) and Wauwatosa East (2022-2024) high schools. At Tosa East, he helped the team to their most successful season in four years, while compiling a 135-66 record in his time at Waukesha North.

2026 Schedule
Concordia Wisconsin and Dominican open their seasons Saturday with two games each at the Kwik Trip Invitational in Mankato, Minnesota. Season openers shift to the Hodag Dome in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, the following week as Edgewood and Lakeland both face Lawrence and Ripon on Wednesday, Feb. 25, while MSOE faces Carroll (Wis.) in a doubleheader on Thursday, Feb. 26.

The remainder of the league opens play over the first half of March. Marian faces Lebanon Valley and Illinois College at Clermont, Florida, on March 1, while Wisconsin Lutheran plays Beloit and UW-Oshkosh at the UWO Rec-Plex. Concordia Chicago follows on March 2 with games against Baruch (N.Y.) and Concordia-Moorhead in Vieira Beach, Florida.

Aurora, Benedictine, Rockford and St. Norbert all get underway the weekend of March 7-8. Benedictine plays Montclair State and Anderson (Ind.) on March 7 in Kissimmee, Florida, while Aurora faces North Park and Montclair State the following day. St. Norbert opens with a doubleheader at UW-Oshkosh on March 7, and Rockford plays SUNY Cobleskill and Drew (N.J.) in Naples, Florida, on March 8.

Alverno is the final NACC school to open its season, playing Nazareth and Worcester Polytechnic Institute on March 14 in Kissimmee, Florida.

The NACC slate opens Saturday, March 21 with five doubleheaders - Marian at Alverno, MSOE at Rckford, Lakeland at Concorida Chicago, Concordia Wisconsin at Dominican, and Wisconsin Lutheran at Benedictine. Aurora (at Concordia Wisconsin) and Edgewood (at Marian) open conference play the following day, while St. Norbert joins the fray the following weekend with a trip to Wisconsin Lutheran on Saturday, March 27.

2026 Tournament
The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the 2026 NACC Softball Tournament at Aurora University's Bedrosian Stadium at Spartan Athletic Park in Montgomery, Illinois. Play begins with four single-elimination games on Thursday, May 7. The remainder of the tournament will be a double-elimination four-team affair running Friday-Sunday, May 8-10. The tournament champion will receive the NACC's automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

2026 NACC Softball Tournament
Thursday-Sunday, May 7-10
at Bedrosian Stadium at Spartan Athletic Park, Montgomery, Ill.
Hosted by Aurora University
 

Softball	Points
Concordia University Wisconsin (14)	321
Benedictine University (8)	306
Dominican University (4)	298
Aurora University	224
Milwaukee School of Engineering	223
Concordia University Chicago	219
Marian University	199
Lakeland University	177
Edgewood University	116
St. Norbert College	109
Rockford University	78
Wisconsin Lutheran College	70
Alverno College	26