BOSTON – Following the program’s first NCAA Tournament Victory and a top-five national ranking, Bryant was selected first in the 2026 America East Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll. The Bulldogs also had a league-best five players named Preseason All-Conference, as announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bulldogs were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation last year and only lost twice, finishing the season at No. 10 in the country. They received 6 first place votes in this year’s poll and 47 total points. Two-time defending conference champion Vermont was second with 44 points and had the remaining two first place votes. The Catamounts finished the season ranked 13th in the nation last year.
New Hampshire took third in the poll with 34 points, just edging UAlbany which has 33 points to capture fourth. UMBC was close behind in fifth (27), while UMass Lowell rounded out the top six with 19 points.
Bryant led all schools with five selections on the Preseason All-Conference team, while UAlbany was second with three honorees. Vermont and New Hampshire each had a pair. Catamount Niklas Herceg was a First-Team All-America selection last year, while David Ismail was named to the Second Team.
Preseason Poll
| Pl. |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
Bryant |
47 (6) |
| 2. |
Vermont |
44 (2) |
| 3. |
New Hampshire |
34 |
| 4. |
UAlbany |
33 |
| 5. |
UMBC |
27 |
| 6. |
UMass Lowell |
19 |
| 7. |
NJIT |
12 |
| 8. |
Binghamton |
8 |
Preseason All-Conference
| F |
Xahvi DeRoza (New Hampshire) |
| F |
Brady Geho (Bryant) |
| F |
Ivar Gissurarson (UAlbany) |
| F |
David Ismail (Vermont) |
| M |
Alexander Clive (UAlbany) |
| M |
Fernando Delgado (Bryant) |
| M |
Paco Fernandez (Bryant) |
| D |
Rodrigo Hermelo (UAlbany) |
| D |
Christien Merritt (Bryant) |
| D |
Jojo Ocran (Bryant) |
| D |
Max Voigt (New Hampshire) |
| GK |
Niklas Herceg (Vermont) |
Need to Know:
- Bryant was selected first for the first time in program history after reaching the third round of the NCAA Tournament and falling in penalty kicks to eventual College Cup participant Saint Louis.
- The Bulldogs have reached the conference championship three straight seasons and last year finished 17-2-3 overall. They also bring back three players who earned All-Conference honors a season ago, including Midfielder of the Year Paco Fernandez. Jojo Ocran and Brady Geho come to Bryant after earning All-Conference honors at UMBC last fall.
- Vermont was picked second after finishing the season ranked 13th nationally and with a 14-1-5 overall record. The Catamounts have won each of the past two conference championships as the No. 1 seed.
- Junior Niklas Herceg is a returning first-team All-American in goal for Vermont and owns a career record of 26-2-8 with a .819 save percentage and 16 shutouts. David Ismail returns after taking home Second-Team All-America honors at forward.
- America East men’s soccer has been ranked as one of the top-six conferences in the nation by RPI in two of the past three seasons
- New Hampshire was picked third after finishing fourth in the league last year and tying for first in 2024.
- UAlbany earned the No. 4 spot after going 3-2-2 in league play in 2025 and capturing the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
- UMBC was fifth in the poll after going 6-6-5 last year, while UMass Lowell went 7-7-4 and reached the conference semifinals a season ago.
The 2026 season begins on Thursday, August 20 with all eight teams in action. Bryant hosts nationally ranked UMass, while the Catamounts welcome George Mason, UNH travels to Colgate and UAlbany plays at Michigan State. NJIT is also at home that evening.
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 the 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 and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -