BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team heads into the 2026 season predicted to finish third in the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches poll, announced Monday.

 

The Vikings are coming off an 8-8-3 overall record in 2025 and was in contention for the conference title heading into the final game of the regular season posting a 6-3-1 GNAC record (19 points). Western qualified for the inaugural GNAC Men's Soccer Championship tournament, dropping a 5-3 back-and-forth contest to Seattle Pacific to conclude its postseason bid.

 

WWU is listed third in the six-team poll trailing No. 1 Seattle Pacific and No. 2 Western Oregon. Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser tied for fourth and Saint Martin's is listed No. 6 in the survey of the league's head coaches.

 

The 2026 squad features 10 newcomers and a strong set of 14 returners heading into the start of the season this week with a pair of home games at Harrington Field. Senior midfielder Edgar Serrano and goalkeeper Charlie Dyer headline the returners as team captains for the season.

 

The second-winningest coach in GNAC men's soccer history, Greg Brisbon returns for his 14th season in charge of the program. Since taking the reigns of the program in 2013, Brisbon is 111-76-36 (.578) overall and holds a league record of 77-46-23 (.606).

 

The Vikings open the 2026 season this week with a pair of West Region battles at Harrington Field, hosting Chico State on Thursday and No. 5 nationally ranked Stanislaus State on Saturday, both 7 pm games in Bellingham. The complete 2026 season schedule can be viewed at WWUVikings.com.

 

The 2026 GNAC men's soccer season begins on Thursday with all six of the conference's teams in action, including the Vikings hosting Chico State at Harrington Field with kickoff at 7 pm. Conference games kick off on September 24 as the teams battle for a top-three spot in the standings to earn a berth into the 2026 GNAC Men's Soccer Championships, hosted at Interbay Stadium in Seattle November 5-7. All contests hosted by GNAC schools will air live on the GNAC Network, with single-match and season-long purchase packages available pay-per-view.

The winner of the GNAC Championships tournament earns the conference's automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA West Region Championships, which run Nov. 12-15 on campus sites. The 2026 Division II NCAA Men's Soccer Championships are Dec. 3-5 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The complete 2026 GNAC men's soccer schedule can be viewed online at GNACSports.com.

 

Here is a look at the final voting tally from the 2026 GNAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll:

 

 

The Western Washington University men's soccer program is led by head coach Greg Brisbon, who has spent over 20 seasons affiliated with WWU Soccer. The Vikings won the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, the third league trophy in program history, and advanced to the NCAA II Championships for the second time. The program enters its 47th season in 2026 and has recorded a season record at or above the .500 mark in 13 of the last 14 seasons. In 2016 the Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in program history, using a late-season surge that saw the Vikings 5-0-1 over the last six matches to advance to the postseason. Overall, the program has produced 71 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 31 First Team All-GNAC players and four GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001. Off the field, WWU has built a strong academic reputation with 104 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last nine years.