The Midwest Conference released its 2022 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday and Lake Forest College was listed first in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head women's soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters received all but two of the first place votes and finished with 62 points. The other top votes went to Beloit College, which was second in the poll with 50. Defending league champion Knox College ranked third with 44 points and Lawrence University fourth with 33.
Lake Forest posted a 6-1-1 record in conference play and finished second in the standings in 2021. Forester goalkeeper Maggie Kersting was voted MWC Defensive Player of the Year and is joined by Krissy Kuwahara, Alyssa Xanos, Alexa Kotsovos, Raven Dziedzinski, and Hiwa Brown as current team members who have earned all-conference honors during the last three seasons.
The Foresters will officially open the 2022 season at Wisconsin Lutheran College on Thursday, September 1. The team will begin league play at Lawrence University on Saturday, September 24, and the regular season will conclude with an away game against Grinnell College on October 29. The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by the league champion November 4-5.
Under head coach T.R. Bell, Lake Forest has advanced to 19 of the last 24 MWC Tournaments and claimed five of the program's six conference titles.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Lake Forest College (6) | 55 |
| 2 | Beloit College (2) | 50 |
| 3 | Knox College | 44 |
| 4 | Lawrence University | 33 |
| 5 | Monmouth College | 32 |
| 6 | Grinnell College | 31 |
| 7 | Cornell College | 23 |
| 8 | Illinois College | 12 |
| 9 | Ripon College | 8 |
