A once long-running series between the Muskies and Red Hawks was revived last year, and the teams played to the first tie in series history with a 1-1 draw at Ripon Sept. 3, 2025. Malaya Sperber scored the game's first goal just 1:41 for Lakeland, while the Red Hawks' Juliana Garcia scored the equalizer with a penalty kick in the 39th minute. It was the first meeting between the teams since 2018, a 4-1 Ripon win that wound up being the final game in a 15-year streak of the teams playing. The Muskies' last win in the series came Sept. 30, 2009 with a 2-1 double-overtime win at Ripon as Kristina Borts scored the winner in the 103rd minute.

About Lakeland: The Muskies enter a new season with a new coach, as Alexander Pagonis begins his first full year at Lakeland after coming on board in December as head coach. He takes over a team that finished 2-13-2 overall last year and 1-10-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The Muskies played their best at the end of the season, finishing 2-3-1 over their last six games and scoring a goal in five of those six matches after going scoreless for eight straight matches earlier in the year. The stretch included a 2-2 tie with St. Norbert to snap a 12-match losing streak against the Green Knights, as well as a narrow 2-1 loss to Concordia Wisconsin in the season finale.

Six starters return from last year's team led by all-NACC honorable mention Malaya Sperber, who scored eight goals and added an assist for a team-best 17 points, including six goals over those final six matches. Other returning starters include midfielders Lia Armstrong, Mikayla Belasco and Ines Rodriguez, defender Emily Guy and goalkeeper Ingrid Steinbock, also honorable mention all-conference as a freshman in 2024.

About Ripon: The Red Hawks of the Midwest Conference finished 4-9-5 overall last year including 2-3-3 in conference matches. Ripon scored 14 of its 23 goals over two matches, shutout wins over Rockford and Maranatha Baptist, but the Red Hawks also allowed just 25 goals over 18 matches, including seven shutout wins. Midfielder Martina Palazzolo was named a second team all-Midwest Conference pick last year, forward Lizzy Schmitz of Sheboygan shared team scoring honors as a freshman, and the two are part of eight starters returning for Ripon.