Men's Soccer

#AEMSOC Week 11: Four Teams Separated By Two Points

BOSTON – Bryant & UAlbany both earned crucial victories on Friday evening as the top four teams are separated by just two points entering the final games of the regular season Tuesday evening.
 
Four teams still have a chance at the 2026 #AEMSOC Regular Season Title, though Bryant took a big step forward with a 3-1 victory over NJIT on Friday night. The Bulldogs can earn their first-ever regular season title with a victory over New Hampshire along with the No. 1 seed.
 
Bryant and NJIT both have 13 points going into Tuesday night’s action, followed closely by UAlbany with 12 points. Two-time defending champion Vermont sits in fourth with 11th points. All four teams still could secure at least a share of the regular season title or the No. 1 Seed in the #AEMSOC Championship depending on Tuesday’s results.

Bryant owns the top RPI in the conference at 26, followed by UAlbany at 29 and Vermont at 30. As a league, the America East ranks seventh in the nation, ahead of the CAA, Summit League and Big West.
 
On Tuesday, Vermont travels to UMass Lowell for a 6 p.m. matchup, with NJIT playing at UMBC at 7 p.m. Bryant hosts UNH at 7 p.m. and UAlbany faces Binghamton on the road at 7 p.m.
 
The #AEMSOC Championship begins with quarterfinal action on Saturday, Nov. 7

Need to Know:
  • Bryant’s Jorge Rodriguez scored just 4:05 into the contest for a 1-0 lead the Bulldogs made it 2-0 before the half. They extended the lead to 3-0 before NJIT converted on a penalty shot in the 72st minute.
  • UAlbany moved into third place in the standings with a 1-0 victory at UMBC, despite being outshot 15-10 in the contest.
  • New Hampshire continued its strong finish to the year with a 2-0 shutout at home against UMass Lowell to improve to 2-3-1 in league play.
  • Vermont took a 1-0 lead over Binghamton in the 73rd minute, but gave up an own goal in the 78th minute to finish with the 1-1 draw.
  • Diogo Robelo of NJIT leads the league in both goals (7) and points (19), while Luis Fischer from Vermont has a league-best seven assists.
  • Vermont’s Niklas Herceg leads the conference in GAA (0.71), Save percentage (.828) and shutouts (8).
 

2026 #AEMSOC Weekly Award Winners – Nov. 2
Offensive Player of the Week
Nacho Garcia, Bryant – Gr., Defender, Zaragoza, Spain
  • Recorded one goal and one assist in a 3-1 victory over first place NJIT.
  • This is Garcia’s first career #AEMSOC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Goalkeeper of the Week
Ramon Camejo, Bryant – Jr., Goalkeeper, Monroe, N.J.
  • Recorded ten saves in a 3-1 victory over first place NJIT.
  • Stopped a penalty kick in the first half to maintain Bryant’s 2-0 advantage.
  • This is Camejo’s fourth career #AEMSOC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Rodrigo, Hermelo, UAlbany – Jr., Defense, Sayreville, N.J.
  • Played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 shutout victory over UMBC.
  • This is Hermelo’s first #AEMSOC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Rookie of the Week
Jack McDowell, Vermont – Fr., Midfielder, Rugby, England
  • Scored the lone UVM goal in a 1-1 draw with Binghamton.
  • This is McDowell’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
Oct. 26 – Offensive Player of the Week: David Davila, New Hampshire; Defensive Player of the Week: Eric Sadlocha, NJIT; Goalkeeper of the Week: Andre Faerman, NJIT, Co-Rookies of the Week: Pablo Maya, Bryant
Nov. 2 - Offensive Player of the Week: Nacho Garcia, Bryant; Defensive Player of the Week: Rodrigo, Hermelo, UAlbany; Goalkeeper of the Week: Ramon Camejo, Bryant, Rookie of the Week: Jack McDowell, Vermont
 

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 -