July 10, 2026
Southeast Conference winners and South Region Playoffs host Georgia Impact kick off South Region Playoff semifinal play in Woodstock, Ga. on Saturday when it faces Mississippi Delta Conference winners Little Rock Rangers SC at 1:30 p.m. EDT at Woodstock High School. The day’s second semifinal features two-time WPSL champions Pensacola FC versus Atlantic Conference winners, Arlington SA at 5 p.m. EDT. Winners of Saturday’s two semifinal matches meet at 4 p.m. EDT to determine who will advance to the WPSL Championships.
It has been a season of firsts for Georgia Impact. After four WPSL seasons, the club based in Woodstock, Ga, 45 minutes northwest of Atlanta is making its first postseason appearance after securing its first Southeast Conference going 7-0-1 in regular season play.
The only blemish came in the final fixture of the season—after Georgia Impact already secured the conference title and the honor of hosting the South Region Playoffs—a 2-1 loss at DECATUR FC, which is historically one of the most difficult teams to play against on the road.
Georgia Impact averaged 2.5 goals over its eight-fixture schedule. Mireya Stephenson, a sophomore at the University of Arizona, led the side with five goals, and was named Week Seven South Region Offensive Player of the Week for tallying two goals and an assist in Georgia Impact’s 4-1 road win over UFA Gunners that secured the Southeast Conference title.
The defense was led by defenders Kennedy Kelly, an incoming freshman at Stanford, and Kennedy Chowder, who earned South Region Defensive Player of the Week honors in Week Five and Six respectively. Georgia Impact’s goalkeeping corps included Kennesaw State University senior Charlee Bernal, who recorded one clean sheet in five starts, and Jaddah Foos, who made three starts, shut out DECATUR FC to help Georgia Impact secure a crucial three points in its quest for a first-ever Southeast Conference title.
If there is one thing Mississippi Delta Conference winners Little Rock Rangers SC have proven is its ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Over its 10-match regular season, Little Rock averaged four goals a game to go unbeaten in its return to the WPSL. The only blemish on Little Rock’s otherwise perfect record was a 0-0 road draw versus Shreveport United in Week Seven.
The high-scoring Rangers SC is led by Samford University senior, Samantha De Luca and academy player, Ella Dietz, with six goals each. De Luca’s Week Four hat trick and assist against Hattiesburg FC earned her Week Four South Region Player of the week honors. Dietz, who will be a junior in high school in the fall, earned Week Eight South Region Offensive Player of the Week honors for two goals and an assist in Little Rock’s 5-1 win over Baton Rouge United.
Maria Schuller, a junior at the University of Arkansas Little Rock added five goals on the season. Megan Rogan, a senior at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and Kendyl Terrell each tallied for goals on the season. A total of nine players scored at least one goal for the Rangers over the course of the season.
The goalkeeping corps of Maysa Willis, a senior at Harding University who made seven starts for the Rangers, and academy player Rylie LeBlanc, who made three starts, combined for seven clean sheets on the season.
The 2026 season marks Little Rock Rangers SC’s return to the WPSL after a six-season hiatus, and the club’s first postseason appearance.
Two-time WPSL champions Pensacola FC look to return to the national stage in its first return to postseason play after a five-season absence. Pensacola FC rolled through Third Coast Division play running the table with nine wins and one draw. Faith Johnston, a sophomore at the University of Kansas, ran away with the league Golden Boot award, tallying an astounding 19 of Pensacola’s 70 goals scored on the season, which is the second highest in league history behind Ajax America Women’s 71 in 2007.
Johnston’s league-high goal count came in eight appearances, which included one hat trick, a four goal-game and a five-goal game. AJ Mayock, playing in her third year at Eastern Carolina University was second on the team with seven goals in 10 appearances.
Goalkeeper Karla Guzman-Ortiz started all 10 games for Pensacola, posting seven clean sheets enroute to a 0.3 goal against average. This is Pensacola FC’s third stint in the WPSL, playing in the 2012 and 2013, 2017-2019, and 2025 through present.
Last season was the only season the club did not advance to the postseason. In 2012 as the Gulf Coast Texans, the club won its first WPSL championship, advancing to the WPSL Championships semifinal in 2013, 2017, 2018, before winning its second WPSL championship in 2019.
Arlington SA returns to the South Region Playoffs for a second consecutive season after clinching the Atlantic Conference title with a 7-0 win over NCFC Navy in the Atlantic Conference championship match in Raleigh, N.C. Academy player Emily Inman had a hat trick, Columbia University sophomore Evelyn Javers added a brace, and academy players Halle Thomas and Alden Marin added goals to put Arlington into the postseason.
Arlington went 6-1-1 to finish five points clear atop The District Division standings. Arlington’s division-high 19 goals were scored by committee, with Javers tallying a club-high four goals in divisional play to go along with her pair of goals in the conference final.
It was the defensive side of the ball where Arlington stood out most, allowing a division-low seven goals. Center back Amelie D’Agnillo earned Week Four South Region Defensive Player of the Week, while goalkeepers Phoebe Carver, a senior at the University of Southern California, and College of William & Mary incoming freshman Gwen Doughty both earned Goalkeeper of the Week accolades while splitting time in goal: Carver earning Week Eight National Goalkeeper of the Week and Doughty earning South Region honors the same week.
This is Arlington’s second postseason appearance in three WPSL seasons. Last year Arlington fell to Chattanooga FC in the South Region semifinals.
