I haven't seen anything from the UAA, but based on preseason rankings (I know they were based on last years end of season, but it's something), here is how they stack up...

Ranked in top 25...
1. Emory
2. WashU
3. Brandeis
4. UChicago

Others in no particular order...
Rochester
CWRU
NYU
CMU

I'm thinking those top 4 stay similar...WashU and Emory with all their transfers will be tough to beat.

Bottom 4, who knows?

Quote from: Titans19 on August 09, 2026, 06:16:17 PMAnother UAA season finally looms on the horizon and after an exciting season last year with Emory, Brandeis, UChiago, and reining champions Washington University making the tournament, the UAA looks poised for another successful year.

UChicago returns most of its top players including first team All UAA midfielder Edward Wu. In addition, they bring back starting goalkeeper Ali Alamery who's been impressive between the sticks and finished on the All Conference teams last year. UChicago also returns now sophomore striker, Giovanni Caselli, who led the lines for them last year and will look to get even better this year. A couple other players to watch includes Evan Kanellos, Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey, and Samuel Jimenez. UChicago lost senior attacking midfielder Kai Walsh so they'll be looking to fill the gap there. I expect them to be fighting for the conference title yet again as they consistently do.

Reigning UAA champions Washington University remain poised for another big season. Falling only to NCAA tournament runner ups, Trinity, WashU had an impressive campaign last fall. They'll return conference defender of the year Quentin Gomez along with freshman of the year Daniel Kochen (who's brother played at Barcelona and is now out on loan for all the USA fans out there) and of course forward Ethan Wirtschafter who had an outstanding campaign last season. A big loss for them will be winger Zach Susee who's been a staple in their squad for the past few years, but WashU always finds talent and I suspect this years class will be no different. Starting goalkeeper Cal L'Hommedieu also returns in goal after two impressive seasons. While the UAA will be as competitive as ever, WashU has every chance to repeat.

Moving onto Emory University who had the most successful campaign last year falling narrowly in the Final Four in a heartbreaker. They'll lose top player Ignacio Cubeddu who lit up the conference last year and Josh Grand, the talented midfielder who's been playing for them the past 4 years. They return a talented senior class with Logan Steren, Michael Constant, and of course UAA OPOY, Lorenzo Avalos. The question will be how Avalos returns from his injury in the post season. Emory has also brought in a number of division one transfers again this year which makes them even more formidable. While Emory lost a number of players to graduation, the reload with transfers and return of their core class of seniors, makes them formidable yet again this year.

Brandies will look to continue their success after one of the best seasons in history last year finding themselves at the top of NPI rankings across the fall and making the tournament and taking eventual winner, Tufts, to overtime. The loss of captains Nico Belinda and Rainer Osselmann-Chai will be a challenge that the Judges will have to overcome. They return Maddox Yu and Dylan Marcoza who both made the UAA teams for the conference. Brandeis graduates a number of players who've played a lot of minutes over the past 4 years. The Judges face a challenging non-conference schedule which should set them up nicely for success in the conference and on the NPI rankings.

Rochester returns top player Milos Bisenic off a First Team All UAA season and one of the conferences best from the wingback position. They'll also retain talented forward Johnny Makula and now graduate student Mikey Burke who both finished second in the conference last year. Talented midfielder Sebastian Ballasteros returns after an impressive freshman campaign. They'll lose top center back Kol Bassuk who's been one of the conferences best over the past few years along with Tyler Moran in midfield. Rochester has brought in 13 new players along with 3 goalkeepers which should mean some new blood in the team this year. They face a tough schedule including SUNY Cortland, Skidmore, Hobart, and more and they'll take on the CWRU Spartans in the first UAA contest.

Having just mentioned them, Case Western Reserve University comes off a season finishing 7-7-5. They return standout defender Alex Eby who will look to continue to impress in his sophomore campaign. The Spartans will also return Cormac Apostolides who was out with an injury the last year. The Spartans, known for their defense having given up 8 goals last year, lose All UAA first team goalkeeper Bradley Winter and All UAA first team defender Phillip Washington, along with veteran midfielder Camden Larson. They'll need to fill those shoes but return other key players including midfielders Owen Guffey and Sean Wilson. The issue has been goals and the Spartans have brought in ten new players with majority being attackers. The main newcomer to focus on is Saiheed Jah, a graduate student who played at Drake University. The Spartans will also return attacker Micah Rossen from injury who will look to continue his success from last year before his season ended early in the first conference game. In addition, keep an eye on sophomore midfielder Raj Chitre as he plays more minutes for CWRU. The key for the Spartans is goals and if they can find them, with their defensive posture, they can compete with anybody.

Carnegie Mellon brings back the only freshman to make the All UAA First Team in Mateas Fitzwilliam along with midfielder Tristian Gonzalez who finished second team. They'll continue to have goalkeeper Kai Yamamoto in net who's been a constant for them over the past few years. Freshman forward Idan Garten also stood out for the Tartans last year and should be expected to contribute again this season. The Tartans did not lose a lot of players this past year to graduation so expect a team of players with experience to make them very competitive this upcoming season. They'll take on Otterbein, Ohio Northern, and Denison who should all be formidable tests for the team as they prepare for UAA play.

Lastly, New York University will look to rebound after last seasons performance. They'll lose first team All UAA player Terra Nagai who has been a star for NYU over the past few years along with the impressive Ethan Zarka (one of the most technical players the UAA has seen in awhile). For those curious about Zarka, watch the replay of Emory and NYU last year. They'll also graduate both centerbacks so they'll be looking to fill the gaps at all of these positions. For players returning, they'll have Keyon Namdar back who was an All UAA honorable mention. It's uncertain how many recruits/transfers they've brought in but I suspect they'll have a large class. They play a favorable nonconference schedule that bodes well for starting UAA play. We all want to see NYU back to where they were 4-5 years ago so hopefully the program will turn around this season.

Let me know your thoughts on any of these teams and your way to early predictions for conference standings! I suspect the UAA will be up top yet again with a number of teams competing for the conference and top spots in NPI.

Nice write up Titan! As far as Case goes, they loaded up on 1st year/transfer attackers so hopefully more goals are coming. They lost a lot defensively so not sure we'll see the same stellar D they've had the last couple of years. It's going to be a young team but does return some experience from last year.

First preseason game Saturday, then a tough preseason matchup at Denison next week. I'll probably be at both, Denison definitely, so we'll see how that goes.

Let's hear from other schools?!?!

Quote from: Kuiper on August 16, 2026, 05:18:20 PMI kind of love this, but I would love it even better if it was at midnight on the first day of practice:

Denison is hosting a back-to-school tailgate before it's scrimmage v. Case Western Reserve on Wednesday Aug. 26th, including "food, drinks, music, and plenty of good vibes."

For a lot of schools, football gets all the press.  It's nice to see a school pump up its student body for the soccer teams too.

I'll be there...I'll let you know how it goes (from an away fans perspective).

This is the "Wenger Law" for offsides and is currently being trialed in the Canadian Premier League. Led by FIFA and approved (but not voted on yet) by IFAB.

Quote from: VASoccerDad on June 10, 2026, 04:51:57 PMLooking at the actual school standings, the UAA had the overall champ (WashU) and 4 out of the top 10, NESCAC had 3 in the top 10.

It was mid-tier schools that pushed the NESCAC to the top. From top to bottom they were the better conference, but on strictly the top end, I would say the UAA was better.

And to follow up again...if you look at the average score by school, the UAA tops NESCAC again- averaging 742/school to 642, with the Coast to Coast conference coming in third at 449 per school.

Looking at the actual school standings, the UAA had the overall champ (WashU) and 4 out of the top 10, NESCAC had 3 in the top 10.

It was mid-tier schools that pushed the NESCAC to the top. From top to bottom they were the better conference, but on strictly the top end, I would say the UAA was better.

Quote from: Kuiper on May 20, 2026, 02:42:17 PM

Quote from: blue_jays on May 20, 2026, 02:25:59 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on May 20, 2026, 12:09:53 AMCross-posted from the 2026 Schedules Thread

Tufts

They trade out Husson for Thomas College and MIT for WPI, which are both probably like-for-like, and  Emerson for Westfield State, which is harder to peg since Westfield State had a much better record than Emerson last season, but in a weaker schedule.  The biggest challenge for Tufts might be the road trip to Amherst and Hamilton on 10/3-10/4.  It's under 2 hours to get to Amherst, but over 3 hours to get from Amherst to Hamilton and then over 4 hours to get home to Tufts from Hamilton.  That's called doing errands in some parts of Texas, but will be the most Tufts has to travel during the regular season. I doubt it will matter much though.  As New Englander said [in the 2026 Schedules thread], with 10 out of 15 games at home, including all the non-conference games, this is a very friendly schedule from a travel perspective.

Amherst

UChicago's closest conference opponent is 4.5 hours away.

The UAA, like the C2C, is a different animal for sure.  Some would argue, though, that flying to conference games (as a number of schools have to do, including the UAA schools, but also SAA schools now that Trinity and Southwestern have joined), is easier than long bus rides.

Honestly, the travel is one of the reasons my son chose to play at a UAA school. Plus the cities the UAA competes in are pretty cool for a college kid, even if they don't get to spend a whole lot of time there.

UAA announces a new logo and identity...

https://uaasports.info/news/2026/4/16/general-uaa-announces-new-logo-first-refresh-since-1987.aspx

Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on April 16, 2026, 09:18:50 AM

Quote from: Chargers96 on April 15, 2026, 06:33:24 PMI wish there was a solution for CNU, UMW, and Salisbury.  All solid programs -- probably too solid which is why they can't find a stable conference situation (and geography).  Kinda surprised recruiting doesn't seem to be impacted.  Honestly, in Virginia, I still don't understand how Radford and Longwood remain Div. 1 soccer programs.  If they dropped to DIII, I could see CNU, UMW, Salisbury, Radford, Longwood, and add St. Mary's MD as a good conference as far as soccer goes.

Son played at Radford for his first 2 years and had a decent experience. Radford soccer is part of a the Big South which is 3rd tier D1 conf whose teams primarily has 50% int'l players in most programs. Only one team qualifies for the NCAA tournament.  What you see at the top tier D1 trend with int'l players has been going on in the Big South for years. Longwood = 2025 18 int'l, Radford- 13 int'l, Gardner-Webb 20 int'l. Marshall broke that barrier which primarily has int'l players who play almost all the minutes.

IMO, Radford is never going D3. It is a state school with over 6000k enrolled. However has little resources across its sports programs. Several of the other programs do decently like its basketball program.

VMI imo will never go D1. Despite doing poorly in almost every sport and a smaller school, the school vision of itself would suffer substantially. 1500-1700 students with 86% men. I went to W&L literally next door. The alumni base would not allow this.

My comments on Radford is that it is a regional university with absolute no pretension. In fact, it seemed to be the most diverse college I have ever seen, literally. Not something they had to aspire to. Mostly I think because it was reasonably inexpensive even for out of state kids. Very accessible. Overall, just a bunch of poor kids trying to get educations and where sports has little to do as to why they attended there. Lot's of positives.

Correction...VMI is already D1, has been for a while now.

Quote from: Chargers96 on April 15, 2026, 06:33:24 PMI wish there was a solution for CNU, UMW, and Salisbury.  All solid programs -- probably too solid which is why they can't find a stable conference situation (and geography).  Kinda surprised recruiting doesn't seem to be impacted.  Honestly, in Virginia, I still don't understand how Radford and Longwood remain Div. 1 soccer programs.  If they dropped to DIII, I could see CNU, UMW, Salisbury, Radford, Longwood, and add St. Mary's MD as a good conference as far as soccer goes.

You could throw VMI in with Radford/Longwood. VMI and Radford have been 2 of the worst D1 teams over the last 5 years.

Anybody have any recruiting info or expectations for the upcoming season? Transfers in/out, incoming freshmen, coaching changes, anything? I know there are several people here that seem to have intimate knowledge of some of the UAA programs, let's hear it (without giving away secrets). Or better yet, give them away !

The UAA board has been pretty quiet for a while now, just looking to get it going again.

Quote from: Kuiper on January 21, 2026, 12:18:53 PM

Quote from: jknezek on January 21, 2026, 11:12:23 AMYeah. I don't think there is a D3 soccer equivalent. Indiana is a byproduct of the massive shift in D1 athletics, especially football and basketball, and a fantastic coaching hire. The ingredients required for this kind of rags to riches shift, impossibly fast roster turnover, traditional power becoming irrelevant by dollars, and a coach that learned what Calipari struggled to learn... strong, proven men all over the playing surface are better than outstanding young talented boys.

But without the earthquake of changes to how FBS football works, it doesn't happen like this. I'm not saying Indiana couldn't have improved, I'm saying the lightning shift doesn't happen without the transfer portal, the importance of dollars, and a brilliant coach.

If FBS programs have any sense, the value for proven 20+ year old players should have just blown past the value for flashy 5 star incoming freshman. Honestly, the G5 has become AAA. They should be able to recruit better young players now, but they are going to get picked clean for any of them that actually develop after a year or two.

Interestingly, there are some parallels in DIII to the kind of changes that propelled Indiana to the top - roster limits in DI, the transfer portal, the creation of the NPI (which potentially allows some underrated teams to climb the rankings more quickly than they would have under the regional ranking system), expanded recruiting georgraphically, retirements/removals of chronically underperforming coaches as DIII schools recognize the importance of athletics in enrollment, expanded international recruiting in DIII, etc. 

As I said in the original post, there probably are no actual Indiana stories in DIII men's soccer.  There are some pretty quick turnarounds in records in recent years, but none of these teams made any noise in the NCAA tournament:

TCNJ (2-12-15 in 2024; 11-5-5 in 2025)
Caltech (1-12-1 in 2021; 8-7-3 in 2024)
Haverford (2-11-5 in 2024; 10-0-10 in 2025)
Lake Forest (4-13-1 in 2021; 19-2 in 2025)
Edgewood (1-15-1 in 2022; 17-2-2 in 2024)

There are probably other good examples of this.
   

I think these are some good potential examples, however like you said, they died quickly in the tournament. They each had great regular seasons but did nothing after that. Indiana not only went undefeated in the regular season, but also made the tournament (playoff) run to win it all.

Haverford went undefeated but then faded once they got to the tournament/playoffs. They would have needed to win it all (what, 4-5 more games?) before we could consider them in the same level as an IU football story.

Maybe if Dickinson won it all last year, it could have been similar? But they had a great season the year before as well.

I think it's going to be tough to really get a good D3 soccer comparison because of the lack of NIL/$$$. Unless an NYU (UAA) or Trinity (CT) (NESCAC) or similar type school starts buying players, I don't think we're going to see it.

Vilardo is an interesting case (at Case, haha)...played GK first 3 years then switched to forward his senior year because of their inability to put the goal in the net. Like Ejay said, 0 goals on 2 shots. He did play a fair amount but little to no production (like most of Case's forwards this year, unfortunately for them). Probably the academy connections...

Anyway, sounds like Case is going after attackers this year- I think 5 commits so far and 4 are forwards (2)/attacking mids (2), plus a GK.

I know this is the men's board, but congrats to the UAA women's teams on making the final four, and now the championship game.

3 out of 4 final four teams- WashU, Chicago, Emory .

WashU and Emory competing for the women's title.

And Emory with a chance at the men's /women's sweep.

Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on December 04, 2025, 10:40:02 PMTufts will not sweep the womans and mens as the women lost in the semis. Either way that is pretty impressive they even had a chance.

So is Tufts now the D1 version of Connecticut basketball (2014 and 2004)?

No, but Emory still can.