photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas soccer coach Nate Lie on the first day of practice on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Lawrence.

The Kansas soccer team’s quest to build on its first-year success under head coach Nate Lie begins, at least unofficially, on Friday.

The Jayhawks will travel to the Iowa Soccer Complex for an exhibition against the Hawkeyes at 1 p.m. It’s the first sporting event of the 2025-26 athletic calendar at KU, but it arrives pleasantly late for Lie and his team as opposed to last season, when KU had to travel to Arkansas within a week of getting all of its players on campus.

“We have an exhibition that’s middle-back of the preseason, which allows us to integrate and build and introduce our tactics at the pace we’d prefer,” Lie said, “versus last year, which was tough. But anything that comes our way, I think it makes you stronger, whenever you have to adapt to situations.”

Once the 2024 season got underway, the Jayhawks posted some promising results early on, but also allowed a series of late goals that hampered their record.

After a 3-0 home loss to Oklahoma State in the opening weeks of conference play, though, KU hit its stride. The Jayhawks drew with perennial contender BYU before rattling off a win streak of eight straight matches, including the entirety of the Big 12 Championship at CPKC Stadium. Makayla Merlo’s 66th-minute penalty kick against No. 7 TCU gave KU its second-ever Big 12 tournament victory and made Lie the first soccer coach in league history to lead a team to a tournament title in his first season with the program.

The Jayhawks earned an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament, but lost 1-0 on the road at Saint Louis University.

The result of last year’s achievements, as well as the fact that KU brings back most of its relevant players from that run, is significantly higher preseason expectations for the Jayhawks. The Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, released on Tuesday, projected KU in fifth place, as opposed to a tie for 12th last season. The Jayhawks’ opportunistic veteran strikers Lexi Watts and Saige Wimes each earned preseason all-conference selections, as did outside back Caroline Castans.

The three selections are the most in KU history, and fifth is the Jayhawks’ highest preseason mark in a decade. TCU, Texas Tech, BYU and West Virginia were picked ahead of KU in the poll.

A steady presence at the back who is also capable of generating attacking pressure, Castans tallied six assists last season in 1,889 minutes, the highest total among field players on the team. Watts scored nine goals with three assists in 2024, highlighted by the overtime golden goal against WVU in the Big 12 tournament, while Wimes added five goals and seven assists.

Other key returners include goalkeeper Sophie Dawe (who trained with KC Current II and a United States youth national team over the summer), defenders Brooke Otto and Olivia Page, and a variety of rising sophomores such as midfielders Jillian Gregorski and Kate Langfelder.

Oregon transfer Livvy Moore provides another attacking threat in the midfield, and Maya Mathis (UConn) and Fiona Skwierawski (Minnesota) are expected to shore up a back line that lost some key pieces. KU also brought in 10 freshmen, two of whom enrolled early, and last season certainly set a precedent that they could compete for significant playing time.

“I’m thankful that we have a more traditional preseason,” Lie said. “We have a group that (is) going to be a good mix of newcomers and experience and different ages, but the core of the group was with us last year, so we’re not starting from scratch on all levels.”

The Iowa contest is KU’s lone exhibition. The Jayhawks will begin their season in earnest on Aug. 14, when they host Missouri State at Rock Chalk Park at 7 p.m.

photo by: Arun Halder/Kansas Athletics

The Kansas soccer team gathers during a spring game against Central Missouri on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas defender Olivia Page controls the ball against Arizona State during the first round of the Big 12 tournament Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas midfielder Jillian Gregorski makes a move on a defender against Arizona State during the first round of the Big 12 tournament Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.