Missouri Reign Joins New Gateway Division in WPSL’s 2025 Season

The Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) has announced its conference alignments for the 2025 season. Recently announced at the WPSL AGM, the league now holds 150 teams, continuing to be the largest women’s soccer league in the world. These teams are divided into four regions, each containing multiple conferences and divisions.

In the Central Region – Midwest Conference, the Gateway Division winner and Heartland Division winner will qualify to play each other for the conference championship. Entering their second season, Missouri Reign is hopeful to make some noise in their brand-new division with this new opportunity.

"It is an opportunity to improve on the performance we had last year. It was our first season, so for us to lay the foundation we did and find some success, now to build off that, it’s exciting. Plus to have new competition, which will bring a new challenge, that’s always enjoyable.” Missouri Reign President Dakota Acock said.

A New Home in the Gateway Division

Missouri Reign has been placed in the Gateway Division of the Midwest Conference, where they will face:

• FC Pride (Indianapolis, IN)

• Junction FC (Urbana, IL)

• Lou Fusz Athletic (Earth City, MO)

• Peoria City (Peoria, IL)

Like all teams, the Reign are heavily focused on player recruitment, as building the best roster possible is crucial in a league this large.

“Player retention is always a priority, so bringing back returning players after a year of experience for them is going to be great.” Coach Dakota said regarding the team’s recruitment going into season two.

Continuing on, he mentioned, “As we bring in new players to our program, we want them to feel comfortable, allowing them to find their groove with us, feel like they have a home with our team. We added some great pieces to our original group that formed the Reign last year, so we are excited to continue that into summer 2025.”

A Fresh Start After a Tough First Season

Last year, the Reign finished sixth in the Heartland Conference, regarded as one of the toughest conferences in the league. However, with realignment, they now face a new set of opponents:

• FC Pride (5-1-4) cemented a season above .500 and went on to represent the conference in the playoffs, making it to the semifinal game.

• Junction FC (5-3-2) had an impressive record in their inaugural year.

• Lou Fusz Athletic (5-1-4) finished their third year in the WPSL.

• Peoria City will be making their WPSL debut, after fielding a successful men’s team in USL League Two.

The Reign will play two games against each opponent, trading home and away matches throughout the summer season. Their schedule, along with non conference and U-21 focused games, will be revealed in the Middle of March.

With a solid foundation and a new division, the stage is set again for Missouri Reign to prove themselves this summer. The competition in the Gateway Division will be difficult, and all the lights point to Marvin Owens Stadium, where the Reign will look to compete against fresh faces for Summer 2025.