OXFORD, Ohio - The Mighty Oaks of Oakland City were the runaway choice to win a second straight River States Conference title in women's soccer, finishing first in the 2025 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll, announced Thursday by the River States Conference office, saw each of the conference's eleven head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
Oakland City was a unanimous choice by the other ten coaches in the conference, earning each of the ten possible first place votes. The Mighty Oaks, picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll, were dominant during the 2024 season, allowing just four regular season goals in conference play en route to a 9-0 record. The Mighty Oaks then beat WVU Tech and IU East to win their first conference tournament championship in women's soccer.
The only other available first place vote went to Rio Grande, who was picked by the coaches to finish second. The top five was rounded out by conference tournament runner-up IU East, WVU Tech, and Shawnee State.
IU Kokomo is placed at the center of the conference at sixth, with Brescia seventh, Midway eighth, St. Mary-of-the-Woods ninth, IU Columbus tenth, and RSC newcomer Kentucky Christian rounding out the league at eleventh.
Four River States Conference teams will open up the season on the first allowable date of competition, Thursday, August 21, with Rio Grande and IU East playing home games while St. Mary-of-the-Woods and IU Kokomo are on the road. Conference play begins with three matches on the schedule for Thursday, September 25 - IU Kokomo visits Kentucky Christian, St. Mary-of-the-Woods heads to Midway, and IU East travels to Oakland City.
2025 RSC PRESEASON WOMEN's SOCCER COACHES' POLL
1. Oakland City (100 points, 10 first place votes)
2. Rio Grande (87 points, 1 first place vote)
3. IU East (74 points)
4. WVU Tech (70 points)
5. Shawnee State (65 points)
6. IU Kokomo (60 points)
7. Brescia (48 points)
8. Midway (37 points)
9. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (35 points)
10. IU Columbus (19 points)
11. Kentucky Christian (10 points)