The season is nigh, and the pre-season polls have been let loose upon the world: NEW YORK (Aug. 19, 2025) – Akron and Georgetown earned the top spots in their respective divisions, as the BIG EAST Conference announced the Preseason Coaches’ Poll and all-conference awards on Monday. No. 21 Akron was selected by the league’s men’s soccer coaches to finish as the top team in the Midwest Division, while No. 25 Georgetown was selected to win the East Division. DePaul’s Noeh Hernandez was voted BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Seton Hall’s Agustin Resch garnered the preseason Defensive Player of the Year award and Akron’s Mitch Budler earned the preseason accolade of Goalkeeper of the Year. Georgetown, the 2024 BIG EAST tournament champion as the fourth seed, topped the East Division preseason poll with 65 points and 10 first-place votes. Providence, the tournament runner-up and East Division Co-Champions followed suit with 56 points and the remaining two first-place votes. In the Midwest Division, after topping the Midwest Division in 2024 with a 7-0-1 record, Akron leads the way with 65 points and 10 first-place votes. Receiving two first place votes, Creighton ranks second with 57 points. Projected to finish third in the East Division, 2024 EAST Division Co-Champion St. John’s received 45 points, while Connecticut ranks fourth with 34 points. Rounding out the East Division, Seton Hall ranks fifth with 30 points, while Villanova tallied 16 points. Following Akron and Creighton, Xavier checks in at third in the Midwest Division with 41 points. Rounding out the rankings, Marquette has been picked fourth with 34 points, followed by DePaul with 26 points and Butler with 23 points. A member of the 2024 All-BIG EAST First Team and the reigning BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year, Hernandez will once again look to lead the Blue Demons offensive attack entering his junior campaign. Hernandez tallied eight goals and nine assists a season ago to total 25 points. He capped the regular season ranked third in the league in goals, first in assists and second in points. He led DePaul to its best offensive season in nearly three decades with goal involvement in 17 of the team's 32 goals in 2024. Hernandez notched a point in 11 of his 17 appearances and eight of those performances were multi-point outings. In his first season as a full-time starter, Resch earned 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team honors. The rising senior went the distance in 9 of 17 contests last season, totaling 1,450 minutes on the pitch. Defensively, he anchored a back line that collected eight clean sheets, the most shutouts in a season for the Pirates since 2004. A stalwart in net for the Zips, Budler started all 21 games in 2024 registering a 0.93 goals against average and a league-leading nine shutouts on the strength of 51 saves and a .729 save percentage. The reigning BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team honoree, Budler played 1,846 minutes in net and capped the year with a 12-4-4 record. Over his illustrious career, he boasts a 29-10-15 record with a 0.93 goals against average, 132 saves and 4,864 minutes played on the pitch. A total of 11 student-athletes were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, including Hernandez, Resch and Budler. Georgetown leads the way with four individuals on the list, followed by Providence with two. All-BIG EAST honors and preseason polls were decided by a vote of the league’s head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own team or players. The 2025 season gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 21. Conference action begins Friday, Sept. 19. BIG EAST Preseason Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Poll East Division (first-place votes) 1. Georgetown (10) 65 2. Providence (2) 56 3. St. John's 45 4. Connecticut 34 5. Seton Hall 30 6. Villanova 16 Midwest Division (first-place votes) 1. Akron (10) 65 2. Creighton (2) 57 3. Xavier 41 4. Marquette 34 5. DePaul 26 6. Butler 23 Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Noeh Hernandez, Jr., M, DePaul Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Agustin Resch, Sr., D, Seton Hall Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Mitch Budler, R-Sr., GK, Akron Preseason All-BIG EAST Team Mitch Budler, R-Sr., GK, Akron * Josemir Gomez, Sr., F, Butler Noeh Hernandez, Jr., M, DePaul * Mitch Baker, So., F, Georgetown Tate Lampman, So., D, Georgetown Matthew Van Horn, Jr., M, Georgetown Zach Zengue, Sr., M, Georgetown Bruno Rosa, Sr., F, Providence Diego Batista, Sr., M, Providence Antonio Biggs, Gr., D, St. John's Agustin Resch, Sr., D, Seton Hall * *Unanimous Selection
Matchday 1: August 21, 2025 Purdue Fort Wayne 3 @ DePaul 3: They have the Offensive POY, not the Defensive POY, and it shows Sant Francis 0 @ Xavier 3: We need more Jesuit vs. Jesuit soccer St. John's 1 @ Temple 0: Now that's a gritty Northeast matchup right there. In another world, Temple joins the Big East UConn 1 @ Syracuse 0: Death and dishonor to conference traitors. A dozen head pats for Jonathan Husky. 9-1 Syracuse advantage in corners, though, and 14(4)-5(2) in shots Akron 3 @ VCU 0: Just read the Zips thread. Richmond is a long way to go for a non-conference one-off. Must be that FBS money! Creighton 0 @ Florida Atlantic 3: Going down to South Florida for a pair of games is more economical. But not if you give away goals like they're going out of style. Georgetown 1 @ High Point 2: 16(7)-6(3) shot advantage for the Hoyas, as well as 8-2 on corners. But High Point was clinical when they needed to be and the Hoyas were not. Good, competitive game, hopefully the SoS boost is worth it in the end Bradley 0 @ Marquette 0: Golden Eagles had to play most of the game down a man, a moral victory of sorts out of a bad situation Providence 0 @ Rutgers 1: Nine - count 'em, nine - yellow cards handed out in this one. Another gritty Northeast matchup. The Big East team lost this one, though, because the Friars' coach's wife is suing the PC Athletic Department I mean what... Lafayette 0 @ Seton Hall 2: Goals gonna be at a premium for visitors to South Orange this year Western Illinois 1 @ Butler 0: The wheels have really come off the Butler program
Matchday 1.1: August 22, 2025 Rider 0 @ Villanova 5: Wildcats wilding out. Can they pick themselves up off the league floor?
Matchday 2: August 24, 2025 St. John's 0 @ Hofstra 2: What is St. John's, after all, if not Queens Hofstra? Oakland 1 @ DePaul 1: The teams combined for 31 shots... and 1 offside. Guess blasting it from outside is the strong preference. North Florida 1 @ Marquette 2: Ospreys score in the 84th minute... only to have Marquette equalize half a minute later and score the gamewinner in the 90th. Creighton 1 @ Florida International 1: Creighton could only manage a draw even though FIU ate red cards at 58:02 and 61:47. Another slow-ish start for the Bluejays. Northern Kentucky 0 @ Akron 1: Four yellows and a red for the Norse - yikes! Bowling Green 0 @ Butler 1: Sensing a pattern here... BGSU ate a red in the 12th minute, but it took Butler until the 75th to put a goal on the board. The Falcons took anotehr red in the 87th for good measure. What is going on in the midwest? UMass 1 @ UConn 1: 4700+ listed attendance?!?! Rutgers 2 @ Seton Hall 2: 15(6)-5(3) shot advantage for the home side, they'll feel like they missed out on a win.
Matchday 2.1: August 25, 2025 Maryland 1 @ Georgetown 0: Such a deeply frustrating result. I hate hate hate losing to Maryland, especially at home, and the run of play favored the Hoyas - not overwhelmingly so, but enough that a draw would have been a far more fair result. But the Maryland goalkeeper deserves a big ol' plaque for his performance, and sometimes that's what you need. Feels like this is a stronger Maryland side than in years past. New Haven 1 @ Providence 0: What the actual f*** Providence, this is a team in their first year of D-I
Seeing this late... VCU HC Dave Giffard and AKR HC Jared Embick were both assistant coaches on Caleb Porter's Akron staff 15+ years ago. They remain friends.
Sitting here at 0-2 kinda wishing Brian Wiese had scheduled games against his coaching tree (American and three Ivies) instead of SoSmaxxing
Disagree with that point. Wiese is doing the right thing. You will be grateful for it down the road. Build that SOS resume.
Matchday 3: August 28, 2025 Iona 1 @ Villanova 1: Wildcats escape with a draw thanks to an Iona defender's unpressured back pass going right through his goalie's legs. That new turf bouncing different, I guess. You can watch it on YouTube, because apparently Nova has opted out of ESPN+??? Men's Soccer vs. Iona University Chicago State 1 @ DePaul 2: Even the Sickos Committee wouldn't touch this one Detroit Mercy 2 @ Butler 0: The days of the Butler Bowl being a tough place to get a result appear to be over. New Hampshire 0 @ St. John's 5: That whole "New Hampshire is a top 25 program" 15 minutes was fun while it lasted, huh? UConn 0 @ NJIT 0: I caught a bit of the ending, UConn was lucky to escape with the draw. Pretty even match all around. Drake 3 @ Marquette 3: The home side had to play the last 18 minutes or so down a man, but managed to find the tying goal shorthanded. That fight is a good sign, even if the overall performance leaves much to be desired.
Matchday 3.1: August 29, 2025 Boston College 0 @ Providence 2: That's more like it, Friars. Chalk up another win over an ex-Big East program, B(enedict Arnold) C(ollege). West Virginia 0 @ Akron 0: With only 4 SOGs total, it would be fair to describe this game as a "tractor pull" (Go hooooome, Mountaineers). Creighton 1 @ Michigan 3: Has anyone tried unplugging Creighton and plugging it back in? Pittsburgh 0 @ Georgetown 1: Being the best 1-2 team in the country feels a lot better than being the best 0-2 team in the country. Credit to Brian Wiese for deploying a high, hard press with some wrinkles deployed in the second half to add to the unsettlement. Pitt handled it very well early, hitting a number of passes behind the Hoyas defense, but the run of play shifted in the middle third of the game and the last 30 really saw the home team stepping on the gas with the front foot.
Matchday 3.2: August 30, 2025 Seton Hall 0 @ St. Louis 1: The Hall eating a straight red in the 64th minute is certainly on brand. SLU has not conceded a goal this year and enters the rankings this week at #16, so we mustn't judge the Pirates too harshly. Xavier 1 @ Bellarmine 3: If the Muskies aren't careful, the Jesuits are going to relegate them from the ranks and promote "BELL-er-mun" in their stead.
Matchday 4: August 31, 2025 Chicago State 0 @ Marquette 4: Maybe the Texas National Guard can help reinforce the badly outgunned Chicago State. St. Thomas 1 @ DePaul 1: The undefeated DePaul Blue Demons, everybody! Manhattan 1 @ UConn 5: I think it's funny that the Jaspers scored first and also that UConn scored their last goal with 3 seconds left on the clock. 30 shots (14 SOG) is an outrageous tally by the Huskies. St. John's 0 @ Wake Forest 0: A really good result for the Johnnies on the road. Wake had the run of play in their favor and had a goal wiped out by VAR, but the Men of Queens acquitted themselves well against a top flight opponent. We also got this quote from Wake's coach that is only slightly more sensical in context than without context: "We dealt with 150 big balls here today, and balls are going to drop..."
Matchday 4.1: September 1, 2025 St. Joseph's 0 @ Villanova 1: If the basketball Philly Big 5 games can be held at the Palestra, maybe they can have the soccer ones at Franklin Field? Vermont 1 @ Georgetown 1: Five minutes away from pulling off the win, the Hoyas snatch a draw the jaws of victory. A lost opportunity, but once again the form was strong. Providence 3 @ Rhode Island 1: Friars starting to round into shape, from the looks of it. I will be interested to see how they do against Harvard, coached by former Georgetown assistant Josh Shapiro (no, not the governor of Pennsylvania). IU Indy 1 @ Butler 0: What has happened to Butler? Tulsa 0 @ Creighton 0: Well, they didn't lose, and Tulsa is a good program, but for Creighton to still be winless is jarring. Cleveland State 0 @ Akron 1: The match was nowhere near as close as the score suggests, which is good, because it shouldn't have been! Zips up to 11 in the polls, could well be in the top 10 when they travel to Vermont to take on the defending national champs.
Matchday 5: September 4, 2025 Illinois-Chicago 1 @ DePaul 1: The Blue Demons 'improve' to 1-0-4. At this point I am just rooting for them to tie every game, I want to see them go 1-0-16. Central Connecticut State 0 @ UConn 1: A pretty weak non-conference slate, but UConn could easily be undefeated heading into the Big East.
Matchday 5.1: September 5, 2025 Penn 0 @ Seton Hall 0: Very hard to tell how good Penn is, since this was only the Quakers' second game on the season, but Brian Wiese disciple Brian Gill has been named Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year for three straight years in the Ivy and has the Quakers as a national presence. Harvard 2 @ Providence 0: Will Brian Wiese disciple Josh Shapiro and his Crimson challenge Penn for Ivy supremacy this year? The Friars look more challenged than challenger. Duke 2 @ Georgetown 2: Nothing like following up a game in which you gave up the tying goal with 5 minutes left by giving up *two* goals in the last ten minutes. Duke defeats Georgetown, 2-2. Hoyas winning lots of battles in the run of play but failing to win the war. Western Michigan 1 @ Butler 2: Will be interesting to compare this score to how the Broncos fare in their trip to Akron tonight. Akron 2 @ Ohio State 0: The Zips really carrying the banner for the league at the moment. Will be interesting to compare this score to how the Buckeyes fare in their trip to Butler this coming Saturday. Marshall 1 @ St. John's 1: 5 yellows apiece for the clubs, and the Herd had to play the final 20 minutes down a man after seeing red. Nothing easy in Queens this season. Villanova 0 @ Columbia 0: Brian Wiese disciple Mike Casper and his Columbia squad will almost certainly not be challenging Penn for Ivy supremacy this year. They did manage a game effort - 10 shots with 2 on goal to Nova's 15 with 3 on goal, 7-4 on corners in favor of the Wildcats, and 2 Wildcat yellows to the Lions' 1. Denver 0 @ Creighton 2: Hallelujah! The Jays are risen!
Matchday 5.2: September 6, 2025 Northwestern 1 @ Xavier 0: The Muskies had a player eat a straight red after VAR review in the 31st minute on a late-and-lunching challenge, but they managed to keep the Wildcats scoreless until the 86:57 mark. Wisconsin @ Marquette: Cancelled. RIP Scott Michaud and Noah Snyder.
Matchday 6: September 7, 2025 Illinois-Chicago 1 @ DePaul 2: The Blue Demons get Catholic Chicago bragging rights, at least. Colgate 0 @ UConn 3: Two quick goals by the Huskies to start the second half and a third in the final minute. At this point, I'm liking them ahead of Providence in the East.
Matchday 6.1: September 8, 2025 Villanova 0 @ Army 2: At least Nova students can still hear from Tom Hanks? A PK and an own goal were the difference - West Point only had 2 SOG, as did the Wildcats. Rhode Island 2 @ St. John's 1: Well, that's why you play the games. The Johnnies follow up their draw with #2 Marshall by losing to the previously winless Rams, who mustered only 2 SOG on the night (which was still more than the Red Storm's lone SOG on 12 shots total). Butler 1 @ Pittsburgh 4: Looking like a long - and short - season in Indy.
Matchday 6.2: September 9, 2025 Western Michigan 0 @ Akron 4: About what I figured, given the teams' respective results coming in. James Madison 0 @ Georgetown 4: About what I figured, given the teams' respective results coming in.