SLU WOMEN'S SOCCER GAME NOTES & INFORMATION
Game 1	Saint Louis vs. Alabama
Date // Time	Wednesday, August 12, 2026 // 7 p.m.
Location	St. Louis, Mo. (Robert R. Hermann Stadium)
Watch	ESPN+
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Saint Louis | Alabama

Billiken Schedule
Billiken Roster

BILLIKENS FACE CRIMSON TIDE TO BEGIN 2026 SEASON
• Playing the earliest opener in program history, Saint Louis women's soccer kicks off its 31st season of competition Wednesday, Aug. 12, by hosting Alabama of the Southeastern Conference. Game time at Robert R. Hermann Stadium is 7 p.m.
• The 2026 season is the 31st in SLU women's soccer history. The Billikens are 363-181-67 for a .649 winning percentage.
• The Billikens and Crimson Tide are meeting for the first time in women's soccer.
• Saint Louis and Alabama finished 2025 separated by just one place in the NCAA Division I Ratings Percentage Index. The Crimson Tide and the Billikens landed at No. 33 and No. 34, respectively.
• The Billikens are coming off a 14-4-2 season that saw them finish second (8-1-1) in the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season standings and reach the A-10 Championship semifinals.
• Alabama advanced to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Championship as an at-large selection, ousting Northwestern in penalty kicks and falling to then-No. 1 Stanford. The Crimson Tide were 11-9-2 overall and 4-6 (tied for ninth) in the SEC and lost to eventual league champion Vanderbilt 2-1 in the SEC Championship quarterfinals.
• SLU owns an 11-8-1 record vs. SEC teams.
 
ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT OFFERING TICKET SPECIALS
• The Saint Louis Department of Athletics is featuring ticket specials for the SLU-Alabama game. Fans may take advantage of a buy-one-get-one-free offer, and all fans age 18 and under will be admitted free. Click here to purchase tickets.

SAINT LOUIS CELEBRATING 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN'S SOCCER PROGRAM'S INCEPTION
• The 2026 season marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of Billiken women's soccer.
• SLU's Saturday, Oct. 17, game vs. Richmond will include a 30th anniversary celebration, coupled with the return of Billiken women's soccer alumni.
• Also, SLUBillikens.com is featuring once-a-week stories highlighting the program's 11 members of the Billiken Hall of Fame. Click here to read the series' first installment, the 1999 Conference USA regular-season champions.
• The Billikens played their first game on Aug. 31, 1996, defeating Central Missouri 9-0.
 
SLU IN SEASON OPENERS
• Saint Louis is 17-11-2 in season-opening games, regardless of location. The Billikens' record in season debuts played at home is 13-3-1, including 7-1-1 on the last nine occasions. In all home openers, SLU carries a 24-4-2 mark.
 
BILLIKENS LAND IN SECOND PLACE IN A-10 PRESEASON POLL
• Saint Louis was picked to finish second in the 2026 Atlantic 10 Conference women's soccer race in preseason balloting by A-10 head coaches. The Billikens received three of 14 first-place votes and totaled 182 of a possible 196 points.
• Graduate defender Camille Welker and sophomore defender Blakely Hockett were selected to the 11-member preseason All-Conference team.
 
A LOOK AT THE 2026 BILLIKENS
• Among the Billikens' returning players is sophomore midfielder/forward Caroline Chier (1G, 6A), the 2025 A-10 co-Rookie of the Year. Sophomore forward Adee Broesder (5G, 3A), SLU's leading returning point-scorer, and sophomore defender Blakely Hockett (2G) joined Chier on the All-Rookie team.
• Also back this season are key offensive threats in junior forwards Hope Kim (4G, 4A) and Audrey Smith (5G, 1A) and senior midfielder Lucie Schwartz (3G, 1A).
• Junior goalkeeper Emma Parker (0.92 GAA, .721 save percentage) returns after starting all 20 games a year ago, joining first XI mainstays in graduate defender Camille Welker (20 starts) and junior midfielder Ashley Miller (19 starts).
• Also returning are senior midfielder Nina Preusser, junior goalkeeper Nimu Karani, sophomore midfielder/defender Ava Rademeyer, sophomore forward Addison Stanciak and sophomore defender Ava Scorfina.
• Eleven newcomers – four transfers and seven freshmen – joined the Billiken program this year. The transfers are senior midfielder Jeanette Fieldsend (James Madison), senior defender Caroline Fowlkes (College of Charleston), sophomore goalkeeper Pepper Escher (Massachusetts) and sophomore defender Avery Rasmussen (Kansas). The Saint Louis freshman class consists of defender Hana Allen, forward Keira Bartholet, forward Gianna Harris, defender Lucy Marsh, forward/midfielder Emma Naftanel, forward Leah Simpson and defender Lauren Zangara.
 
SAINT LOUIS TOUGH TO BEAT AT HERMANN STADIUM
• SLU is 86-11-13 (.841) in its last 110 games at Hermann Stadium. In those games, the Billikens outscored opponents 249-47, posted 70 shutouts and allowed more than one goal just five times.
 
HEAD COACH KATIE SHIELDS
• Now in her 14th season as Saint Louis' head coach, Katie Shields owns a 182-65-24 overall record (all at Saint Louis). Shields' .716 winning percentage ranks sixth among all active NCAA Division I women's soccer coaches, and second among active Division I female coaches, who have coached a minimum of five seasons at the Division I level.
 
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama was picked to finish ninth in the SEC.
• In its only exhibition game, Alabama battled 16th-ranked LSU to a 1-1 draw Aug. 5. Melina Rebimbas, assisted by Ashley Roni, scored the Crimson Tide's goal. Alabama outshot LSU 12-7 overall and 6-2 in shots on goal.
• Rebimbas, a senior midfielder/defender who earned third-team All-SEC plaudits in 2025, is one of the Crimson Tide's nine returning starters. She collected three goals and seven assists a year ago.
• Also returning is senior forward Larkin Thomason, a Mercer transfer who was named 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year. Thomason tallied nine goals and six assists last season.
• Junior forward/midfielder Kiley Kukan registered a team-high eight assists in 2025.
• Junior goalkeeper Madi Munguia posted a 1.41 goals against average and a .676 save percentage in 17 starts last year.