Men's Soccer

#AEMSOC Week 9: Catamounts & Highlanders Keep Winning

BOSTON – NJIT and Vermont both scored three times and stayed tied for first with wins this past Saturday, while Saturday’s two other games were played to draws. Just three game dates remain in the regular season.

Vermont moved to 18th in RPI with their win, while NJIT is now 70th. Bryant is in third with an RPI of 33, while UAlbany is close behind at 39. As a league, the America East ranks eighth in the nation, ahead of the CAA, Summit League and A-10.
 
This weekend multiple teams could clinch playoff berths, including the Catamounts and Highlanders who are both in first. The top six teams in the league qualify for the #AEMSOC Championship, with No. 3 & No. 4 seeds hosting quarterfinal matchups and the top two seeds advancing to hosting semifinals contests.

Need to Know:
  • New Hampshire grabbed a 2-1 lead over Vermont at the half and held the lead until the 70th minute. The Catamounts tied the contest and David Ismail completed his brace with the game-winner in the 84th minute.
  • NJIT and UAlbany were tied 1-1 early in the second half, but the Highlanders scored twice in a three-minute span in the final 15 minutes to pull off the 3-1 victory. They’re tied with Vermont atop the league standings.
  • UMBC scored three minutes into the second half, but Binghamton answered just two minutes later. Neither team could net the equalizer as they played to a draw.
  • UMass Lowell held off a feisty Bryant squad with a 0-0 draw at home, despite losing their starting goalkeeper to an injury one minute into the second half.
  • Diogo Robelo of NJIT leads the league in both goals (7) and points (19), while Yuta Kimata of UAlbany ranks second in goals (6) and tied for third in points (14).
  • Bryant faces off against Hofstra on Tuesday, who is 8-2-4 this season but only scored three times in its last four games.
  • In conference action, Vermont travels to UAlbany while the Highlanders play at UMass Lowell. New Hampshire also welcomes UMBC for a 3 p.m. matchup.
  • On Sunday Binghamton plays at Bryant.
 

2026 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners – Oct. 19
Offensive Player of the Week
David Ismail, Vermont – Gr., Forward, Bayreuth, Germany
  • Scored twice, including the game winner in the final 10 minutes, in a 3-2 comeback win over New Hampshire.
  • This is Ismail’s second #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week honor this season.
 
Goalkeeper of the Week
Eijin Magota, UMass Lowell – Jr., Goalkeeper, Tokyo, Japan
  • Entered one-minute into the second half of a 0-0 draw and held Bryant scoreless over the final 44 minutes to secure the 0-0 tie for UMass Lowell.
  • Faced eight shots and five corner kicks in the second half.
  • This is Magota’s first career #AEMSOC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
 
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Sho Kinjo, UMass Lowell – Jr., Defense, Nara, Japan
  • Played all 90 minutes as a part of the defensive unit that held Bryant scoreless in the 0-0 draw.
  • This is Kinjo’s first #AEMSOC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Co-Rookie of the Week
Nico Banks, UMBC – Fr., Defender, Brunswick, Md.
  • Scored once in a 1-1 draw with Binghamton.
  • This is Banks’ first #AEMSOC Rookie of the Week honor.
 
Co-Rookie of the Week
Harusumi Takesada, NJIT – So., Midfield Tokyo, Japan
  • Scored the opening goal in the final minute of the first half to give NJIT a 1-0 lead over UAlbany in an eventual 3-1 victory.
  • This is Takesada'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 2024 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 five of the past ten seasons. Five different teams have reached the third round of the NCAA tournament since 2014.
 
2026 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 26 – Offensive Player of the Week: David Ismail, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Islam Houssni, Vermont; Goalkeeper of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont, Rookie of the Week: Flynn Holdem, UMBC
Aug. 31 - Offensive Player of the Week: Abdul Kamara, UMBC; Defensive Player of the Week: Santiago de Prado, Bryant; Goalkeeper of the Week: Ramon Camejo, Bryant, Rookie of the Week: Yuta Kimata, UAlbany
Sept. 8 - Offensive Player of the Week: Pieter Bultman, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Almoznino Saar, Binghamton; Goalkeeper of the Week: Ramon Camejo, Bryant, Rookie of the Week: Zain Thompson, NJIT
Sept. 14 – Offensive Player of the Week: Fermin Rodriguez, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Reed Cash, New Hampshire; Goalkeeper of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont, Rookie of the Week: Flynn Holdem, UMBC
Sept. 21– Offensive Player of the Week: Justin Godbout-Garon, UMass Lowell; Defensive Player of the Week: Louis Dufraiche, UMass Lowell; Goalkeeper of the Week: Aimar Penalver, Bryant, Rookie of the Week: Yuta Kimata, UAlbany
Sept. 28 - Offensive Player of the Week: Luca Clausse, UAlbany; Defensive Player of the Week: Stepan Fiker, Vermont; Goalkeeper of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont, Rookie of the Week: Luca Clausse, UAlbany
Oct. 5 – Co-Offensive Player of the Week: Yuta Kimata, UAlbany; Co-Offensive Player of the Week: Fermin Rodriguez, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Shawn Tanaka, UAlbany; Co-Goalkeeper of the Week: Ramon Camejo, Bryant; Co-Goalkeeper of the Week: Alexander Genz, UAlbany; Rookie of the Week: Yuta Kimata, UAlbany
Oct. 12 - Offensive Player of the Week: Diogo Rebelo, NJIT; Defensive Player of the Week: Nacho Garcia, Bryant; Goalkeeper of the Week: Niklas Herceg, Vermont, Rookie of the Week: Luca Clausse, UAlbany
Oct. 19 – Offensive Player of the Week: David Ismail, Vermont; Defensive Player of the Week: Sho Kinjo, UMass Lowell; Goalkeeper of the Week: Eijin Magota, UMass Lowell, Co-Rookies of the Week: Nico Banks, UMBC & Harusumi Takesada, 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 -