The Midwest Conference released its 2018 Women's Soccer Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was in fourth place.
Voting is done by the MWC head women's soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters finished fifth in the 2017 standings, despite posting a league record of 5-2-2 with ties against co-champions St. Norbert College and Knox College.
Second Team All-MWC defender Molly Major returns for her senior season and Cassidy Hoyt, who finished her freshman year with a team-high seven goals and 17 points, is also back.
The Foresters will officially open the 2018 season in Indiana, where they will take on Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Friday, August 31, and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College the following afternoon. The team will open league play against visiting Beloit College on Saturday, September 19, and the regular season will conclude at St. Norbert College on Sunday, October 28. The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by the league champion November 2-3.
Under head coach T.R. Bell, Lake Forest has advanced to the MWC Tournament 17 times in 21 years and claimed five of the program's six league titles.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Knox College (9) | 81 |
| 2 | Monmouth College (1) | 68 |
| 3 | St. Norbert College | 66 |
| 4 | Lake Forest College | 56 |
| 5 | Grinnell College | 52 |
| 6 | Ripon College | 38 |
| 7 | Beloit College | 32 |
| 8 | Cornell College | 28 |
| 9 | Illinois College | 20 |
| 10 | Lawrence University | 9 |
