The wait is nearly over with the latest men's college soccer season kicking off on August 20.

2025 saw Washington win a thrilling national championship over NC State, the first in program history. While the Huskies are in excellent position with several starters returning, the rest of the country is looking unpredictable with countless top class transfers making their way to new destinations.

Check out the TDS Preseason Awards below as we reveal our various Best XI teams heading into the 2026 season.

Preseason Best XI Teams

First Team

F:  Daniel Lugo (High Point), Mitchell Baker (Georgetown), Stephane Njike (Indiana)

M: Ransford Gyan (Clemson), Diego Hernandez (Furman), Ryan Zellefrow (North Carolina), Diego Rosas (Portland)

D: Harrison Bertos (Washington), Braden Dunham (Furman), Nick Lockermann (North Carolina)

GK: Andrew Samuels (Princeton)

Second Team

F: Kyle McGowan (Denver), Marius Stenner (Delaware), Stephan Soghomonian (SMU)

M: Zach Ramsey (Washington), Jaime Amaro (UCLA), Jack Pymm (Stanford), Connor Miller (Cornell)

D: Luca Nikolai (North Carolina), Iain Wagner (San Diego), Riley Moloney (NC State)

GK: Niklas Herceg (Vermont)

Third Team

F: Arnold Matshazi (Virginia), Jeremy Francou (Kansas City), Joe Highfield (Portland) 

M: Anton Khelil (North Florida), Alex Hall (Washington), Tyler Caton (NC State), Paco Fernandez (Bryant)

D: Tate Lampman (Georgetown), Noe Uwimana (Virginia Tech), Luke Adams (Saint Louis)

GK: Kyle Durham (Connecticut)

Freshman Team

F: Aaron Leon-Bedolla (Seattle), Julien Lacher (Princeton), Michael Capretto (Notre Dame)

M: Logan Moniz (Duke), Mason Kutch (DePaul), Tim Fortier (Stanford), Bya Ndimubandi (VCU)

D: Kieran Smith (High Point), Gavin Wolff (Oregon State), Braylon Jernigan (San Francisco)

GK: Lucas McPartlin (Saint Louis)

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