2025 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
| 2025 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Soccer |
| Duration | August 21, 2025 - November 16, 2025 [1] |
| Teams | 10 |
| Regular Season | |
| Champions | Kentucky |
| Runners-up | West Virginia |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | UCF |
| Runners-up | Marshall |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Kentucky †+ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 4 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 West Virginia + | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 5 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12т Marshall + | 6 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 4 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF ‡ | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 2 | – | 4 | – | 3 | 4 | – | 8 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Old Dominion | 1 | – | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 2 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 1 | – | 6 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison | 0 | – | 6 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Sun Belt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season is the 23rd season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), as part of the 2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.
Previous season
Marshall won both the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship. Marshall would make it to the College College Cup, losing in the National Championship to Vermont.[2]
Teams
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Conway, South Carolina | CCU Soccer Complex | 1,000 |
| Georgia Southern Eagles | Statesboro, Georgia | Eagle Field | 3,500 |
| Georgia State Panthers | Decatur, Georgia | GSU Soccer Complex | 1,892 |
| James Madison Dukes | Harrisonburg, Virginia | Sentara Park | 1,500 |
| Kentucky Wildcats | Lexington, Kentucky | Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex | 3,368 |
| Marshall Thundering Herd | Huntington, West Virginia | Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex | 1,006 |
| Old Dominion Monarchs | Norfolk, Virginia | Old Dominion Soccer Complex | 4,000 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | Columbia, South Carolina | Stone Stadium | 5,700 |
| UCF Knights | Orlando, Florida | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium | 2,000 |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | Morgantown, West Virginia | Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium | 1,600 |
Preseason
Preseason poll
The pre-season poll and pre-season all conference teams were voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.[3] The results of the poll were released on August 13, prior to the season starting. The full results of the poll are shown below:
| Predicted finish | Team | Points (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshall | 97 (8) |
| 2 | West Virginia | 92 (2) |
| 3 | UCF | 74 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 67 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 65 |
| 6 | James Madison | 48 |
| 7 | Old Dominion | 36 |
| 8 | Georgia Southern | 30 |
| 9 | Georgia State | 24 |
| 10 | Coastal Carolina | 17 |
Preseason awards
- Preseason All-Sun Belt Team[3]
| Position | Player | Class | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Sebastian Conlon | Senior | Kentucky |
| Defender | Josh Gordon | Senior | |
| Carlos Hernando | Graduate Student | West Virginia | |
| Takahiro Fujita | Junior | Marshall | |
| Midfielder | Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez | Sophomore | South Carolina |
| Alexander Stjernegaard | Senior | ||
| Isaac Scheer | Sophomore | West Virginia | |
| Agustin Lopez | Kentucky | ||
| Forward | Ryan Holmes | Junior | Georgia Southern |
| Marcus Caldeira | Senior | West Virginia | |
| Ethan Ballek | South Carolina |
Preseason national polls
The preseason national polls were released in August 2025.[4]
| United Soccer |
Top Drawer Soccer |
College Soccer News | |
| Coastal Carolina | — | — | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Southern | — | — | — |
| Georgia State | — | — | — |
| James Madison | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | — | — |
| Marshall | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Old Dominion | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | — | — | — |
| UCF | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | 16 | 16 | 11 |
Regular season
National rankings
| Improvement in ranking | ||
| Drop in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week |
| Pre | Wk 1 |
Wk 2 |
Wk 3 |
Wk 4 |
Wk 5 |
Wk 6 |
Wk 7 |
Wk 8 |
Wk 9 |
Wk 10 |
Wk 11 |
Wk 12 |
Wk 13 |
Wk 14 |
Wk 15 |
Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Carolina | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Georgia Southern | USC | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 19 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 20 | RV | RV | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 10 | 18 | 17 | — | 25 | — | — | ||||
| Georgia State | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| James Madison | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Kentucky | USC | — | 18 | 17 | 18 | 22 | 18 | 24 | 19 | 25 | 25т | 18 | 18 | 19 | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | 22 | 25 | — | 24 | 21 | 22 | — | ||||
| Marshall | USC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 12т | None released | |||
| TDS | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 17 | 17 | ||||
| Old Dominion | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| South Carolina | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| UCF | USC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | None released | |||
| TDS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | ||||
| West Virginia | USC | 16 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 16 | 17 | None released | |||
| TDS | 16 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 18 | ||||
Awards
Source:[5]
| 2025 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Individual Awards | ||||||
| Award | Recipient(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coach of the Year | Johan Cedergren – Kentucky | |||||
| Player of the Year | Marcus Caldeira – West Virginia | |||||
| Offensive Player of the Year | Marcus Caldeira – West Virginia | |||||
| Defensive Player of the Year | Noah Holmstrom – Georgia Southern | |||||
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Sebastian Conlon – Kentucky | |||||
| Newcomer of the Year | Lilian Ricol – UCF | |||||
| Freshman of the Year | Emil Seedorff – Georgia Southern | |||||
| 2025 Sun Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams | ||||
| First Team | Second Team | Freshman Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
F – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia |
F – Ethan Ballek, South Carolina |
F – Angel Lopez, Coastal Carolina | ||
References
- ^ "Men's Soccer - Composite Schedule".
- ^ "Vermont wins first ever Men's College Cup final with OT golden goal | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
- ^ a b "Sun Belt Announces 2025 Men's Soccer Preseason Awards & Coaches Poll". sunbeltsports.org. August 13, 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ "Marshall, West Virginia Ranked in United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll". August 4, 2025.
- ^ "Sun Belt Conference Reveals 2025 Men's Soccer Awards, All-Conference Teams". sunbeltsports.org. November 7, 2025. Retrieved November 18, 2025.