(UW ATHLETICS) – The Wisconsin men’s soccer team will open its 2026 campaign with a pair of home games at McClimon Soccer Complex, the first against Saint Mary’s (Calif.) on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT, followed by an afternoon contest with Oakland on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
Here are things to know as the 2026 season begins.
The men’s soccer team added 10 new Badgers over the offseason, including four freshmen and six transfers. Among the transfers are goalkeeper Judewellin Michel and forward Luke van Heukelum, who both previously played for Big Ten programs. Michel spent his freshman campaign at Indiana, where he played in five matches and went 3-1-1. Van Heukelum comes to Madison after three seasons with the Maryland men’s soccer team, where he earned 27 points (10 goals, 7 assists) in 43 games.
Head coach Neil Jones holds a 27-24-13 (.523) record as he enters his fifth season with Wisconsin soccer. Jones led the Badgers to an 8-8-0 (.500) record during the 2025 season. For the second year in a row, Ellis Jones and Will Smith will lead the team on the field as the 2026 captains. Jones, entering his third season for Wisconsin has started at centerback in all 27 games played. A Whitefish Bay native, Smith has become a steady voice on the backline, playing in 12 games last season as a redshirt sophomore.
Wisconsin will open the 2026 season with a match against the Saint Mary’s Gaels, its fourth in program history. The teams last met in 1999 when the Badgers earned a 5-1 victory over the Gaels. Saint Mary’s went 2-8-6 overall and 2-5-2 in the West Coast Conference last season. Sophomore Cameron Kobey was named to the Top Drawer’s WCC Preseason Watch List.
On Sunday, the Badgers will host the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in just the fourth meeting between the two teams. The most recent meeting was in 2009 when the Badgers took a 1-0 victory over the Golden Grizzlies. Last season, Oakland finished with a 3-9-6 overall record and went 3-3-3 in Horizon League play.
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