| 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 | – | 3 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 West Virginia + | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 12 | – | 4 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12т Marshall + | 6 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 3 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF ‡ | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 6 | – | 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.
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]
| 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 |
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 |
| 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 |
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 |
| 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 | ||||
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 | ||