ASHLAND, Va. – Randolph-Macon Men's Soccer has announced a 17-game slate for its 2026 fall schedule. The Lemon and Black finished 8-6-4 overall a season ago and have put together another tough schedule for this upcoming season. The Yellow Jackets will take on nationally recognized programs from prestigious men's soccer conferences, including USA South, Coast to Coast, SAA, and ECAC. These non-conference matches will be paired with a tough ODAC schedule for Randolph-Macon. Head coach Josh Laux enters his twelfth season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets men's soccer program. 

"Our team played at a quality level last year. We return some very key veteran players with a lot of experience as well as six rising sophomores who all got significant minutes. We have many other returners who elevated themselves on the depth chart this offseason. We expect several incoming freshmen to push to make an impact as well. This will be a very skilled, hard-working team with excellent on-field and off-field chemistry," says Laux 

Randolph-Macon kicks off the season on September 1, taking on USA South Conference Champions North Carolina Wesleyan for the season opener. The Battling Bishops and Yellow Jackets will matchup with each other for the third straight season, falling to Randolph-Macon last year early in non-conference play. The Lemon and Black welcome McDaniel College to Ashland for the first time since 1968, starting a three-match homestand on Sept. 4. The second match of the homestand features Berry College (Ga.) on Sept. 6. The Vikings won the SAA last season, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to #22 Christopher Newport. Randolph-Macon will end its three-match homestand with Johnson and Wales on Sept. 9.

The Yellow Jackets jump into their second road match of the season on Sept. 12 when they take a trip to Pennsylvania to take on Washington & Jefferson. Randolph-Macon will return to Ashland to host Averett on Sept. 16 for its final home match of September. The Yellow Jackets begin a three-match road stint with back-to-back USA South Conference teams in Southern Virginia on Sept. 19 and William Peace on Sept. 22.  The Pacers did fall to Randolph-Macon last season in Ashland, Virginia, by a score of 4-0. The road trip and month will complete with the conference opener at Lynchburg on Sept. 26. The Hornets were the ODAC Champions last season and made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, making it to the third round.

The month of October will begin at home, as the Yellow Jackets host Randolph on Oct. 3. Randolph-Macon will hit the road four days later on Oct. 7, traveling to Shenandoah. This contest is followed by back-to-back home matches with Guilford and ODAC runner-up Washington and Lee on Oct. 10 and 14. The Generals earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell in the first round to #25 Denison. The final four regular season matches will conclude with an away match at Bridgewater on Oct. 17. The Lemon and Black will return to Ashland for the final two home matches of the regular season against Hampden-Sydney on Oct. 21 and Eastern Mennonite on Oct. 24. Randolph-Macon closes out the regular season on Oct. 28, in Virginia Beach against Virginia Wesleyan.

Laux adds, "Our schedule features a lot of high-quality non-conference opponents as well as every single team that made the ODAC tournament field in 2025. Our guys would not have it any other way. They are excited for the challenge and looking forward to pushing the program forward."    

Over the course of Laux's Yellow Jacket coaching career, the Lemon and Black have gone 95-67-21. From 2006-14 before Laux took over, RMC was 43-96-15.