Camels Open Season at Longwood, Host App State

BUIES CREEK — Campbell women’s soccer opens the 2026 season Thursday on the road against Longwood before returning home Sunday to face App State. The Camels and Longwood kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Longwood Athletics Complex in Farmville, Virginia. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. Campbell will host App State in its home opener at 5 p.m. Sunday at Eakes Athletics Complex. The match will be streamed on FloCollege. Campbell vs. Longwood Thursday’s match will be the 19th meeting between Campbell and Longwood. The Camels lead the all-time series 10-5-3 and are 6-2-2 in the past 10 meetings. Campbell holds a 4-3-1 advantage in games played at Longwood. The former Big South Conference rivals last met in 2022, when Campbell earned an 8-0 victory in Buies Creek. Longwood finished the 2025 season 9-7-3 and advanced to the semifinals of the Big South Championship. The Lancers were picked to finish third in the conference’s 2026 preseason poll. Forward Sam Fischer was named the Big South Preseason Forward of the Year after earning the conference’s Freshman of the Year honor last season. The first-team selection led Longwood in goals and points. Campbell vs. App State Sunday’s match will be the 12th meeting between Campbell and App State in a series dating to 1994. Campbell leads the series 5-4-2. The teams last met in 2018, when the Mountaineers defeated Campbell 3-0 in Boone. Campbell’s last victory in the series came in 2017, a 1-0 win in Buies Creek. App State finished last season 7-7-3 and was picked to finish eighth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll. Elle Garrison returns as the Mountaineers’ leading scorer after recording five goals last season. She leads App State’s returning players with 11 points after also recording an assist in 2025. Camels Look to Build on 2025 Campbell finished the 2025 season 4-7-5 overall and 2-4-3 in Coastal Athletic Association play. Forward Ava Kanaar returns after leading the Camels with four goals and 10 points last season. She scored in three of Campbell’s final four matches and finished with 17 shots, including 11 on goal. Sanford native Zahra Fepessi also returns after earning third-team All-CAA honors in 2025. Fepessi appeared in 10 matches, making five starts, and finished second on the team with three goals. She recorded 535 minutes and tied for third on the team with six points. Fepessi scored her first collegiate goal against Stony Brook on Sept. 18. Samantha Witte returns after being named to the 2025 CAA All-Rookie Team. She appeared in all 16 matches and made 10 starts. Witte scored her first collegiate goal against Towson on Oct. 16 and added an assist in the match. She finished second on the team with three assists and fifth with five points. Senior goalkeeper Anais van Doesburg also returns after recording three shutouts last season. She posted consecutive shutouts to begin the 2025 campaign, marking the first time Campbell had opened a season with back-to-back shutouts since 2011. Campbell was picked to finish fifth in the CAA South Division with 27 points. Elon was selected first, followed by UNC Wilmington, William & Mary and Charleston. Hampton was picked sixth. Head coach Jeff Gross enters his fifth season at Campbell. Before joining the Camels, Gross spent eight seasons on the staff at UNC Greensboro, including two as associate head coach. He helped the Spartans win consecutive Southern Conference championships and reach the NCAA tournament in 2017 and 2018. Campbell welcomes eight newcomers this season — seven freshmen and one transfer. The freshmen are Mia Turtle, Gretchen Baker, Laney Heafner, Linnea Hedlund, Lydia Parker, Alice Tyson and Jazzy Zakhar. Kennedy Reed joins the program as a transfer from UTSA.