BOSTON – No. 3 Bryant took over sole possession of first place with a dominant second half on Friday, while No. 2 Vermont earned a pair of draws last week to remain unbeaten this season.
The Bulldogs have won a nation-leading 11 straight games and broke open a close game with five second-half goals against UAlbany. Vermont failed to score last week but stretched its unbeaten streak to a nation-leading 23 games with a pair of 0-0 draws.
Need to Know:
- On Friday, Bryant and UAlbany were locked in a 0-0 draw at the half but the Bulldogs scored four times in less than five minutes to make it a 4-0 game in the 68th minute as they won 5-0 and improved to 11-0-1.
- Vermont earned a 0-0 draw at Harvard and then were kept scoreless by UMass Lowell on Saturday to move to 8-0-5 overall. The River Hawks, meanwhile, improved to 6-4-2 overall.
- NJIT earned its first conference win with a 1-0 victory over Binghamton while New Hampshire and UMBC played to a 1-1 draw.
- Bryant is currently in first place in the standings with nine points, followed by Vermont with seven. Four teams are tied for third in the league standings with four points.
This week Bryant and NJIT are on the road Tuesday and then UAlbany welcomes UMBC on Friday evening to start league play. On Saturday, NJIT hosts UMass Lowell, Vermont travels to New Hampshire and Binghamton welcomes Bryant.
2025 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners – Oct. 13
Offensive Player of the Week
Mamadi Jiana, Bryant – Gr., Forward, Westfield, Mass.
- Recorded one goal and one assist as No. 3 Bryant shut out UAlbany 5-0.
- Assisted on Bryant’s second goal and scored the fourth as the Bulldogs tallied four goals in a five-minute span.
- This is Jiana’s first #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week honor.
Defensive Player of the Week
Shunnosuke Nakajima, UMass Lowell – Gr., Defense, Yokohama, Japan
- Anchored a defense that shut out No. 2 Vermont in a 0-0 draw.
- Helped allow just one shot on goal while shutting out UVM at home for the first time since 2022.
- This is Nakajima’s first #AEMSOC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
Rookie of the Week
Henrique Sardinha, NJIT – Fr., Midfield, Lisbon, Portugal
- Scored the lone NJIT goal in a 1-0 win over Binghamton.
- Tallied the only goal of the contest in the final minute of the first half to give NJIT its first #AEMSOC win of 2025.
- This is Sardinha’s first #AEMSOC Rookie of the Week honor.
Links
The America East is one of the best men’s soccer conferences in the country and home to the defending national champions from Vermont. In 2024, the Catamounts led the nation in RPI and the America East finish fifth as a conference. It marked the league’s second straight top-six finish in RPI. Overall The conference has received multiple bids to the NCAA tournament in four of the past nine seasons. Four different teams have reached the third round of the NCAA tournament since 2014.
2025 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 26 – Offensive Player of the Week: Maximillian Kissel, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Omar Robbana, Vermont
Sept. 2 – Offensive Player of the Week: Brady Geho, UMBC; Defensive Player of the Week: Alvaro Medrano, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Alvaro Medrano, UMass Lowell
Sept. 9 - Offensive Player of the Week: Anthony Randazzo, Binghamton; Defensive Player of the Week: Enzo Carvalho, Bryant; Rookie of the Week: Tommy McFadden, UAlbany
Sept. 15 - Offensive Player of the Week: David Ismail, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Scott Williams, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Philipp Kühn, Vermont
Sept. 22 - Offensive Player of the Week: Jaime Amaro, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Ramon Camejo, Bryant; Rookie of the Week: Nicolas Loebus, Vermont
Sept. 29 - Offensive Player of the Week: Jaime Amaro, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Xahvi DeRoza, New Hampshire
Oct. 6 - Offensive Player of the Week: Ivar Gissurarson, UAlbany; Defensive Player of the Week: Aamir Ketbache, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Simon Vujinovic, UMBC
Oct. 13 - Offensive Player of the Week: Mamadi Jiana, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Shunnosuke Nakajima, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Henrique Sardinha, NJIT
Fans will once again be able to watch nearly every #AEMSOC contest this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -