The NCAA men’s soccer version of March Madness kicks off this week with defending champion Vermont sitting high atop the list of fan favorites.
The 48-team NCAA Division I soccer tournament kicks off with first-round action in a field that includes 22 conference champions as automatic qualifiers and 26 teams receiving at large bids. Early-round games will be played at venues around the country and the final four teams will gather in Cary, N.C. for the semifinals on Dec. 12 and the national championship game on Dec. 15.
Here’s RallyFuel’s breakdown on how the tournament shapes up:
THE TOP DOGS — Vermont, Virginia, Princeton and Maryland
Vermont is undefeated (14-0-1) this season and and cruised to its second straight America East Conference championship. That, along with their status as defending national champions, is why the Catamounts earned their the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Vermont gets a first-round by and will play the winner of Thursday’s meeting between Syracuse and Hofstra. The Catamounts are led by David Ismail, a senior forward from Germany, who was chosen as a First-Team American East All-Conference selection and was selected as the Most Outstanding player in this year’s conference tournament.
Virginia might not be carrying a lot of momentum into the tournament, but the Cavaliers might be playing with a grudge after losing to SMU in the ACC championship. Virginia coach George Gelnovatch was chosen as the ACC’s Coach of the Year and freshman forward Nick Simmons was the ACC’s Freshman of the Year and also earned First-Team All-ACC honors while scoring nine goals, the most among freshmen from Power Four programs this year. The Cavaliers have one of the nation’s top defenses, led by goal keeper Casper Mols and defender Nick Dang. Senior mid-fielder Umberto Pela also is one of the nation’s top players.
Princeton will face a tough second-round challenge Sunday when the Tigers face the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between Duke and FDU. But the Tigers will be ready with perhaps one of the top teams in Ivy League history. The conference champions are seeded No. 3 overall and the previous-best seed for an Ivy League team was No. 6 by Penn last season. Junior Andrew Samuel’s is one of the nation’s top goal keepers and Dash Papez, Liam Beckwith and Giuliano Frayolini Whitchurch were among the top players in the Ivy League.
Maryland (12-1-3) had been undefeated until losing to UCLA in the Big Ten Conference title match. The Terrapins have the third-best scoring offense in the nation while averaging 2.50 goals per game. Maryland dominated the Big Ten during regular-season play and six players earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Lasse Kelp was the Big Ten’s Defensive Player oof the Year and Laurin Mack was the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
NEXT IN LINE — Indiana, SMU, Georgetown and Portland
Eight-time national champion Indiana is 12–5-1 this season. The Hoosiers have perhaps the nation’s biggest name player in Palmer Ault. The senior forward was the Big Ten Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and he leads the NCAA in both goals (16) and points (42). Forwards Collins Oduro and Colton Swan are Indiana’s other top players.
SMU comes into the tournament riding the high of an upset victory against Virginia in the ACC championship game. As the No. 5 seed, SMU will host a Sunday evening game against the winner of the first-round matchup between Oregon State. The Mustangs have been carried down the stretch by red-hot sophomore forward Stephan Soghomonian, who delivered the winning goal against Virginia and has scored 12 goals in the last 10 games.
Georgetown has won back-to-back Big East Conference titles and this marks the 14th time in the last season’s that the Hoyas have reached the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas are hoping junior forward Mateo Pence-OCampo can be as explosive in the ACC Tournament as he was in the Big East Tournament. He scored two goals in the championship game win over UConn. Ponce-Ocampo will be supported by a defense led by sophomore Tate Lampman, who was chosen as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the Big East Tournament.
Portland has grown into a national power under Coach Nick Carlin Voigt. The Pilots (13-1-3) will have their second first-round by in the last three seasons and they’ve earned the right to hots up to the Round of 16 if they advance that far. Forward David Ajagbe is one of the nation’s top offensive players. He has 10 goals on the season and is the first Portland player to score 10 goals in a season since Benji Michel did it in 2016.
VERY MUCH IN THE MIX — San Diego, Bryant, Stanford and High Point
Sophomore Iain Wagner had a goal and an assist in San Diego’s 4-2 victory against Oregon State in the title match of West Coast Conference Tournament. Wagner leads the Toreros with eight goals and 20 points on the season. Simon Duus Muller and Noah James are other top players for San Diego.
Bryant played Vermont very tough in the championship game of the America East Conference tournament before falling, 2-0. Prior to that Bryant held the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 games. Bryant’s only previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament came in 2023, but the Bulldogs are a real contender this time around with one of the nation’s top clutch players. Jaime Amaro has four-game winning goals this season and has recorded 10 goals and 27 points.
Stanford will be aiming for its fourth national championship after going 12-2-2 to record its most regular-season wins since 2019. Fletcher Bank and Zach Bohane were First-Team All-ACC selections and Jack Pymm and Joshua Partal were named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team. High Point has one of the best team’s in school history and the Panthers are seeded No. 12 overall, the highest seed in program history. The 11-time Big South Conference champions High Point is led by one of the nation’s best forwards in Daniel Lugo and a strong goalkeeper in Josh Caron.
SLEEPERS — NC State, UConn, Akron and Furman
NC State is coming off a tough 3-0 loss to Syracuse in the second round of ACC Tournament.. But the Wolfpack still earned a first-round by and will host a Sunday meeting against the winner of Thursday’s game between Marshall and Cleveland State. NC State swept ACC honors for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year. Junior forward Donovan Phillips averages 1.82 points per game and was the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Sophomore center back Nikola Markovic was the Defensive Player of the Year and Logan Erb, who has recorded 10 shutouts was chosen as the ACC’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
UConn is back in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2018. After falling to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament championship game, the Huskie’s still earned a first-round bye. Senior forward Austin Brummett transferred in from San Diego State prior to the season and has emerged as UConn’s top goal scorer.
Akron is led by senior goalkeeper Mitch Budler, who was chosen as the Big East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight season. But the Zips also have plenty of firepower on offense. Senior Stefan Dobrijevic was the Big East Offensive Player of the Year. Furman won its second straight Southern Conference Tournament championship with a 1-0 victory against UNC Greensboro and hasn’t been beaten in its last 11 games. Lloyd Wamu Snell and Caleb Johnson are among the top offensive threats for the Paladins.
Leave a Comment