CIAC girls preseason best XI: The top players headed into 2026

From left: Liisu Melville, Addy Girard and Kylah Wood made our best XI. (Scott Kerr, Dennis Brunelle)

Over the past couple of weeks, we've put together best XIs for three of Connecticut's strongest conferences — the FCIAC, CCC, and SCC — as part of our league preview series.

Now it's time to reveal our preseason best XI for the CIAC at large.

Inevitably, many of the players featured in those league-specific best XIs are included in this story. But given one of the defining features of the Connecticut girls soccer season is continuity, there are plenty of candidates across the state. A ton of worthy ones — from Division 1 commits to some of New England’s top club players — didn’t find a spot. We picked three forwards, four midfielders, three defenders and a goalie.

But this is certainly not the extent of Connecticut’s girls soccer talent.

CIAC GIRLS TO WATCH THIS SEASON:  25 defenders | 25 midfielders | 25 forwards | 10 goalies

Two key omissions that are worth noting: New Canaan’s Clare Greisen, a Northwestern commit and a legitimate Gatorade Player of the Year contender, is not included. The senior was shut down for the fall season in late August because of an injury. Amity’s Maggie Kershnar, a UConn commit who is recovering from a torn ACL, is also out for the season.

Let’s get into it: