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2025 W&L Women's Soccer Season Preview

No. 13 Generals earn maximum points to top ODAC coaches poll

8/21/2025 2:00:00 PM

LEXINGTON, Va. - The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2025 Women's Soccer Preseason Poll on Thursday and Washington and Lee collected 12 of a possible 12 first-place votes and the maximum of 144 points to top the field.

Virginia Wesleyan claimed the remaining first-place tally and received 129 points to take second in the poll, followed closely behind by Lynchburg at 125 points. Bridgewater and Randolph-Macon rounded out the Top 5 teams with 101 points and 95 points, respectively.

The Generals captured the fifth ODAC championship in program history in 2024 and earned their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Generals completed the 2024 slate with a 20-2-1 overall record, 10-0-0 in conference play and wrapped up their season in the NCAA Round of 16, their deepest run in the national tournament since 2006 (NCAA Quarterfinals).

Following an opening-season 1-0 loss against TCNJ, the Generals, led by 2024 ODAC Coach of the Year Tiffany Pins, rebounded by rattling off 21 straight games without a loss before ending the season in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. That streak not only set a program record for longest unbeaten streak in program history, it also featured a 14-game shutout streak. W&L allowed just six goals all season and produced 19 clean sheets.

2025 ODAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

Washington and Lee University (12) 144 pts.
Virginia Wesleyan University (1) 129 pts.
University of Lynchburg 125 pts.
Bridgewater College 101 pts.
Randolph-Macon College 95 pts.
Shenandoah University 93 pts.
Roanoke College 82 pts.
Guilford College 71 pts.
Randolph College 54 pts.
Averett University 44 pts.
Eastern Mennonite University 37 pts.
Hollins University 26 pts.
Sweet Briar College 13 pts.

National Polls

The Generals will open the 2025 season where they ended 2024, ranked 13th by the United Soccer Coaches. Washington University (Mo.) begins the season as the top-ranked team, followed by William Smith, Christopher Newport, Emory and Johns Hopkins to complete the Top 5 teams.

The United Soccer Coaches will release a new Top 25 poll every Tuesday during the season in the late afternoon starting in mid-September. Every poll throughout the season can be found here.

Images from the Washington and Lee University @ University of Lynchburg womens soccer matchup on Wednesday, October 02 2024 at Shellenburger Field, in Lynchburg,VA. The Gennies built a 3-0 lead and held of a furious late rally by Lynchburg to secure the ODAC win 3-2.

Our team has approached the preseason with exceptional effort and a strong commitment to our priorities and core values. The leadership and intensity demonstrated daily by our returning players has been inspiring, and our first-year class has already made a meaningful contribution.

As a staff, we are especially proud of the positive and competitive environment our athletes have created both on and off the field. We know the season will be challenging, but we are confident in the team’s willingness to put in the work that is required.

Head Coach Tiffany Pins (Fourth Season)

2025 Schedule Overview

The 2025 women’s soccer schedule kicks off on Friday, August 29, with the first of seven straight non-conference games before the team plays all 10 of its ODAC games consecutively to close out the regular season. The Generals will play eight of their 17 regular season games at home on Watt Field, with the other nine contests away from Lexington.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Generals will see some stiff competition in non-conference play this season, with three of their seven opponents currently ranked inside the Top 5 of the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. The team gets things rolling in Pennsylvania on August 29 and 31 with games against York College and Swarthmore, respectively. After a week break from game play, the Generals will return to the Keystone State on September 6 at Franklin & Marshall, before playing in their home opener the following afternoon against No. 5 Johns Hopkins.

Nearby Southern Virginia comes to town on September 12, which will precede another ranked matchup on September 14 against No. 4 Emory. That game will take place in Cary, N.C., at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, home of the N.C. Courage of the NWSL.

Closing out the non-conference portion of the schedule is the Generals’ annual meeting against third-ranked Christopher Newport on September 20 in Lexington. W&L and CNU have played to scoreless draws in each of the last two seasons.

ODAC SCHEDULE
The Generals have an even split of five home ODAC games and five on the road. W&L will host Shenandoah (9/27), Sweet Briar (10/7), Roanoke (10/11), Randolph (10/22) and Averett (10/25) this season, while playing at Virginia Wesleyan (9/24), Bridgewater (10/1), Guilford (10/4), Randolph-Macon (10/15) and Lynchburg (10/18). During Coach Pins' tenure in Lexington, the Generals are 25-1-4 in conference play and 24-1-6 at home overall.

POSTSEASON PLAY
The ODAC Tournament will begin on Saturday, November 1, with quarterfinal rounds being hosted by the top-four seeds in the conference. Semifinal games will then take place on Wednesday, November 5, with the two highest remaining seeds serving as hosts. The ODAC final will be contested on Saturday, November 8, at the highest remaining seed.

Key Returners

The Generals return all seven of their All-ODAC players from the 2024 season, including both of their United Soccer Coaches All-Americans in seniors Sarah Zimmerman (First Team) and Bryn Bissinger (Third Team). Not only that, W&L returns 10 of its 11 starters from last season, with eight of those players having started all 23 games a season ago. Out of the team’s 67 goals scored last season, this year’s returning players combined for 61 of those goals.

Zimmerman leads the offensive efforts among returning players after her best season yet in Lexington, as she led the Generals in goals (14), assists (9) and points (37), all of which were single-season career highs. Before being named a United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American, Zimmerman also picked up First Team All-Region and First Team All-ODAC laurels and was named the ODAC Player of the Year.

Bissinger anchors the W&L defensive unit, which returns all its starters from last season. Bissinger, a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American, was named the ODAC Defensive Player of the Year after her efforts on the backline. The W&L defense allowed just six goals all season and allowed just 52 shots on goal all season, an average of one every 39 minutes, 48 seconds. Bissinger was also one of W&L’s go-to options on set pieces, as she produced five assists and seven total points.

Sophomore Megan Zimmerman is another key returning piece on the W&L offense after she scored eight goals and added two assists for 18 points to rank second on the team in goals and points. Zimmerman was named the ODAC Rookie of the Year and a United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team player for her breakout rookie campaign.

Senior Sydney Devory rounds out W&L’s returning All-Region players, as she placed on the third team after she was named a First Team All-ODAC defender. Devory matched Bissinger’s seven points on a goal and five assists, and she added an ODAC Defensive Player of the Week honor early in the season after producing a pair of assists and helping towards two shutouts.

Senior Sophie Berman (First Team) and juniors Amelia Manke (Second Team) and Shay Bowman (Third Team) are the remaining All-ODAC players returning for 2025, while senior Abby Groff (GK), junior Emily Burke (F) and sophomore Avery Hannah (D) all started at least 21 games for the Generals a season ago.

Not just a well-rounded returning starting unit, five additional players return who came off the bench in at least 20 games last season. Those players include senior Helen Otteni (F), juniors Stephanie Zawtocki (M) and Gracie Jorgensen (F), and sophomores Aubrey Dunbar (M/F) and Elizabeth Perri (D). These five players, plus sophomore Elizabeth Zimmerman who played in each of the final 12 games of the season after returning from injury, combined for 39 points on 17 goals and five assists in 2024

Beginning in 2025-26, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s five-year media rights agreement with FloSports ensures that all ODAC and W&L home contests will stream live on FloCollege with a subscription.

How to Watch

FloSports/FloCollege can be accessed through the FloSports app or on major streaming platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast which provides access to FloSports’ full library of more than 40,000 events across 25 sports. Subscriptions can be purchased here and are available in two options HERE:

Monthly: $19.99/month
Annual: $107.88/year ($8.99/month)

Fans with an ODAC institution .edu email address are eligible for discounted pricing:

Monthly: $9.99/month
Annual: $71.88/year ($5.99/month)

For those who can’t watch live or do not want to subscribe to FloCollege, free replays will be available on Generalssports.com/live beginning two days after each game. For example, a Saturday contest will be available starting at midnight on Monday morning.

Admission to regular-season home games is free, while ODAC semifinal and championship games and any NCAA postseason contests will require paid admission regardless of host institution.

Fans planning to attend should review W&L’s tailgating and parking operations HERE.

Sarah Zimmerman enters her second season as a team captain for the Generals and is not only one of the team's top returning players, but one of the best in the ODAC.

In 64 career games, Zimmerman has produced 67 points on 25 goals and 17 assists, while increasing her single-season goals, assists and points totals in every season so far. Zimmerman used a 37-point junior season (14g, 9a) to earn ODAC Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches First Team All-America honors.

Off the pitch, Zimmerman volunteers with the Rockbridge Area Relief Association and was a data analytics consulting intern at Kroger's retail data science branch this past summer. Also a member of the W&L women's basketball team, Zimmerman boasts exceptional academic credentials, highlighted by a 2024 College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-America award.

Sydney Devory is one of W&L's top defenders and is serving in her first season as a team captain. Having started 22-of-23 games a season ago, Devory brings 64 games of experience to the 2025 team.

Devory helped the 2024 team solidify itself as one of the best defensive teams in program history, as the Generals allowed just six goals all season, tied for the second-fewest in a season in program history. That mark was also good for second-best in Division III. Devory also scored seven points on the offensive end on a goal and five assists to land on the All-ODAC First Team and All-Region Third Team.

Devory is a five-time W&L Scholar Athlete who volunteers with Campus Kitchen and Rockbridge Area Relief Association. This past summer, Devory completed a Journalism Internship at The Well News and TFAS Program. She also serves as the Communications Chair of the Society of Professional Journalists and the News Editor of the Ring-Tum-Phi.

Bryn Bissinger is another bright spot on a strong W&L backline, who has started 56 games over her three-year career, with 65 total appearances and 23 points on three goals and 17 assists.

Bissinger was at her very best during the 2024 season, leading a dominant defensive unit to a total of 19 shutouts and a miniscule 0.26 goals-against average en route to being named the ODAC Defensive Player of the Year and a Third Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Bissinger also recorded seven points on a goal and five assists, consistently contributing on set pieces.

Off the field, Bissinger is a four-time W&L Scholar Athlete and 2024 United Soccer Coaches Second Team Scholar All-American as an American History and Strategic Communication double-major. Bissinger worked for FTI Consulting over the summer and is a OneLove Ambassador.

Catherine Grasso rounds out the 2025 women's soccer team captains, and she enters the upcoming season with 17 games of experience.

Grasso has played on the defense and in the midfield over the last three seasons, aiding in the efforts of one of Division III's top defenses. Grasso has also contributed three points on the offensive end on a goal and an assist, both of which came in a win at Sweet Briar in 2024.

Grasso has been recognized as a W&L Scholar Athlete five times in her academic career, and she is a three-time ODAC All-Academic Team student, as well, as an accounting major. This past summer, Grasso worked as a Commercial Real Estate Intern at Cushman & Wakefield, and she has additional experience as a Real Estate Society Analyst and as a finance intern at a real estate development start-up in London in 2024.

Milestone Watch

Three players can continue their treks up W&L women’s soccer program career statistical leaderboards this season, while a highly successful season would help head coach Tiffany Pins reach a major coaching milestone.

Senior Sarah Zimmerman has produced 67 points in her career on 25 goals and 17 assists, with her goals, assists and points production all increasing each year of her career. She already ranks 10th in program history in career assists, is three points away from entering the program career Top 10 and needs five more goals to tie Katherine Rush ’15 for 10th place on the career goals list.

Senior Bryn Bissinger, despite playing predominantly in the defensive end, has also produced 17 assists in her career to be in a tie for 10th in program history with Zimmerman. Bissinger looks to continue her efforts on set pieces this upcoming season.

Senior Abby Groff figures to resume her climb up the program’s career shutouts leaderboard in goal after she recorded the second-best single-season total (13) in 2024. With 13 career clean sheets, Groff ranks ninth in program history.

Coach Pins has guided the Generals to a 47-8-10 overall record across her first three seasons in Lexington, leaving her three wins away from an even 50 for her W&L career. Pins will be entering her 15th overall coaching season in 2025 and is 21 wins away from 200 career victories. In her 14 seasons, Pins owns a 179-62-37 overall record, with her 0.710 winning percentage ranking 20th in Division III among active women’s soccer head coaches with at least 179 career wins.