Bemidji State women’s soccer releases 2026 schedule, season opens Aug. 28

Bemidji State University Athletics put next fall on the calendar June 18, unveiling a 2026 women’s soccer schedule that gives Chet Anderson Stadium a heavy October home stretch and sets up another bid for a 17th straight postseason. The Beavers will play three exhibitions before a 18-match regular season, and the dates matter in Bemidji because they shape travel, recruiting visits and the fall rhythm around one of the county’s most visible campus programs.

The Beavers open with three exhibition matches Aug. 21-23. The first comes Aug. 21 against College of Saint Benedict at Chet Anderson Stadium, the field that has been home to Bemidji State women’s soccer since field turf was installed in 2013. The regular season opens at home Aug. 28 and Aug. 30 against Missouri Western State and Northwest Missouri State, giving local fans two early chances to see the roster before conference play tightens the margins.

Bemidji State’s first nonconference road test is Sept. 4 in Mankato against Grand Valley State. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule starts Sept. 11 at the University of Sioux Falls and Sept. 13 at Southwest Minnesota State University, a two-stop road opening that can quickly reveal how the Beavers handle league pressure away from Bemidji. Late September adds more travel with games at Minot State University and the University of Mary before the calendar turns to a much more favorable October.

That October stretch should matter at the gate. Five of the Beavers’ seven October matches are at Chet Anderson Stadium, a run that could boost attendance and keep the campus engaged through the middle of the school year. It also gives head coach Jim Stone’s team more time at home in a season where every result will shape seeding for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament, which begins Nov. 2, and the NCAA Division II tournament, which starts Nov. 12.

The schedule follows a 2025 season that showed how high the ceiling remains. Bemidji State finished 14-3-4 overall and 11-1-3 in the NSIC before its year ended with a 1-0 overtime loss to the University of Central Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament. Stone, the winningest coach in program history, has led 95.2% of Bemidji State’s victories and had 257 career wins as of 2025 reporting, a record that underscores why this schedule is more than a list of dates. It is the blueprint for whether the Beavers can turn a strong regional standing into another postseason run.