Men's Soccer

#AEMSOC Week 7: UAlbany Takes Over First Place

BOSTON – UAlbany took sole possession of first place with a tight 1-0 victory, while Bryant won last weekend and No. 12 Vermont earned a draw.

The Great Danes have moved up to No. 25 in RPI on the strength on a 3-game win streak with three straight shutouts. Vermont, meanwhile, moved to No. 20 in RPI with its 1-1 draw against NJIT. The Highlanders moved up to 99 in RPI with their draw, while Bryan t(58) and New Hampshire (75) are also in the top 100.

Need to Know:
  • On Friday, Bryant held off a pesky UMBC team to secure a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by Fermin Rodriguez.
  • UAlbany earned its second straight conference shutout, taking down UMass Lowell on the road by a 1-0 margin.
  • NJIT put Vermont on its heels with a goal in the fifth minute, but the Catamounts evened the score in the 60th minute and finished with the 1-1 draw.
  • Binghamton grabbed a 1-0 lead on New Hampshire, however, the Wildcats pulled even and finished with a 1-1 tie.
  • Bryant travels to first-place UAlbany on Saturday for a 6 p.m. matchup while UMBC hosts Vermont looking for its first conference points of the season.
  • NJIT welcomes New Hampshire in a crucial conference battle, while UMass Lowell plays at Binghamton.
  • In mid-week action, Bryant travels to UConn and Binghamton hosts St. Bonaventure.
 

2026 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners – Oct. 5
Co-Offensive Player & Rookie of the Week
Yuta Kimata, UAlbany – Fr., Forward, Tokyo Japan
  • Scored the lone goal in UAlbany’s 1-0 victory at UMass Lowell, recording two shots in the contest.
  • This is Kimata’s first career #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week honor and third Rookie of the Week honor.
 
Co-Offensive Player & Rookie of the Week
Fermin Rodriguez, Bryant – Sr., Forward, Valencia, Spain
  • Scored the lone goal in Bryant’s 1-0 victory against UMBC, recording two shots in the game.
  • This is Rodriguez’s second career #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Co-Goalkeeper of the Week
Ramon Camejo, Bryant – Jr., Goalkeeper, Monroe, N.J.
  • Earned a two-save shutout against UMBC on Friday.
  • This is Camejo’s third #AEMSOC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
 
Co-Goalkeeper of the Week
Alexander Genz, UAlbany – So., Goalkeeper, Lower Saxon, Germany
  • Earned a two-save shutout against UMBC on Friday.
  • This is Genz’s first #AEMSOC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Shawn Tanaka, UAlbany –Jr., Defender, Tokyo, Japan
  • Played all 90 minutes on the back line in UAlbany’s 1-0 shutout of UMass Lowell.
  • Assisted on the team’s lone goal.
  • This is Tanaka’s first #AEMSOC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Rookie of the Week
Yuta Kimata, UAlbany – Fr., Forward, Tokyo Japan
  • Scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory at UMass Lowell
  • This is Holdem’s second #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, 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

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 -