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2025 W&L Men's Soccer Season Preview

No. 4 Generals, Lynchburg tie atop ODAC Preseason Poll

8/22/2025 2:00:00 PM

LEXINGTON, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2025 Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll on Friday, with Washington and Lee and Lynchburg tying for the top spot.

The Hornets and Generals received an even split of 116 points and six first-place votes apiece from the other coaches around the conference for the tie. Virginia Wesleyan took third place at 96 points, followed closely behind by Roanoke with 92 points. Hampden-Sydney rounded out the Top 5 teams with 79 points.

The Generals rebounded from a 1-3 start to the 2024 season in extraordinary fashion, riding a 20-game (14-0-6) unbeaten streak through the ODAC and NCAA Tournaments and to their third national semifinal appearance in the last four years. Finishing with an overall record of 15-4-6 for the second straight season, W&L defeated Lynchburg, 1-0, to hoist the eighth ODAC championship trophy and second in the last three seasons.

In his first season at helm, head coach Lumumba Shabazz earned ODAC Coach of the Year honors, while guiding his players to both group and individual success. Eight players received All-ODAC recognition, four were placed on the United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams, and recent graduate Weyimi Agbeyegbe ’25 was named a Second Team All-American.

2025 ODAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll

University of Lynchburg (6) 116 pts.
Washington and Lee University (6) 116 pts.
Virginia Wesleyan University 96 pts.
Roanoke College 92 pts.
Hampden-Sydney College 79 pts.
Shenandoah University 67 pts.
Randolph-Macon College 65 pts.
Bridgewater College 45 pts.
Eastern Mennonite University 42 pts.
Averett University 33 pts.
Randolph College 28 pts.
Guilford College 13 pts.

National Poll

The Generals will open up the 2025 season as the No. 4-ranked team in Division III following the release of the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25. Defending national champion Amherst begins the season atop the national poll, followed by Connecticut College at No. 2, Middlebury College at No. 3 and Babson College rounding out the Top 5.

For a look at the complete United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25, click here. New polls will release every Tuesday around 4:00 pm ET throughout the regular season.

We are always appreciative that others recognize the value of our program, but we are truly not motivated by preseason rankings. For me, it’s not where we are ranked at the beginning of the season that counts, but rather where we are ranked at the end.

This season, our mentality is we are starting from the bottom again, with everything to prove. That idea motivates our work and our daily grind. I believe if we remain consistent with that attitude, we can return to even greater heights this year.

Head Coach Lumumba Shabazz (Second Season)

Beginning in 2025-26, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s five-year media rights agreement with FloSports ensures that all ODAC and W&L home contests will stream live on FloCollege with a subscription.

How to Watch

FloSports/FloCollege can be accessed through the FloSports app or on major streaming platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast which provides access to FloSports’ full library of more than 40,000 events across 25 sports. Subscriptions can be purchased here and are available in two options HERE:

Monthly: $19.99/month
Annual: $107.88/year ($8.99/month)

Fans with an ODAC institution .edu email address are eligible for discounted pricing:

Monthly: $9.99/month
Annual: $71.88/year ($5.99/month)

For those who can’t watch live or do not want to subscribe to FloCollege, free replays will be available on Generalssports.com/live beginning two days after each game. For example, a Saturday contest will be available starting at midnight on Monday morning.

Admission to regular-season home games is free, while ODAC semifinal and championship games and any NCAA postseason contests will require paid admission regardless of host institution.

Fans planning to attend should review W&L’s tailgating and parking operations HERE.

2025 Schedule Overview

The 2025 men’s soccer season schedule will feature some familiar non-conference teams plus a first-ever matchup. The Generals will knock out seven of their eight non-conference games to begin the season, before the annual mid-season clash with Christopher Newport amidst W&L’s nine-game ODAC slate. Overall, the Generals will play nine of their 17 games at home this season.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Generals will begin the 2025 season at the Sonny Carter Invitational hosted by Emory University. The Blue and White will face-off against the tournament hosts on August 29 in the season opener, before taking on Oglethorpe the next day.

Home non-conference games for the Generals this season will feature Covenant (9/5), Regent (9/20), Roanoke (9/24) and Christopher Newport (10/8), with just two additional non-ODAC games on the road at Mary Washington (9/7) and Catholic (9/13).

W&L plays Regent University for the first time ever in men’s soccer this season, while an early-season meeting against Roanoke will not count towards either team’s ODAC standing. The 2025 season will be the second-straight to feature Catholic and the first since 2019 that the Generals will play Mary Washington.

ODAC SCHEDULE
The Generals will host five of their nine ODAC games this season, with those opponents consisting of Eastern Mennonite (9/27), Hampden-Sydney (10/1), Randolph-Macon (10/15), Guilford (10/18) and Lynchburg (10/25). W&L will be on the road for conference games against Virginia Wesleyan (10/4), Roanoke (10/11), Averett (10/22) and Bridgewater (10/29).

POSTSEASON PLAY
The ODAC Tournament will begin on Saturday, November 1, with quarterfinal rounds being hosted by the top-four seeds in the conference. Semifinal games will then take place on Wednesday, November 5, with the two highest remaining seeds serving as hosts. The ODAC final will take place on Saturday, November 8, at the highest remaining seed.

Key Returners

The Generals return 2-of-5 All-Region players and 4-of-8 All-ODAC performers from the 2024 team. Seniors Willy Hall and Will Joseph, along with juniors Spencer Furman and Matthew Jenkins, all made the All-ODAC Third Team to highlight the top returning players.

Hall, Joseph and Furman each make-up part of a strong and seasoned returning defensive unit for the Blue and White, with each having started at least 20 games last season. Hall led the group by starting all 25 games on the backline and added three assists up top, while Joseph started 24 contests, produced eight shutouts and played 2,249:50 between the posts, over 98 percent of the team’s minutes in 2024.

Furman, another top defender a season ago, played in 21 games and started 20 to help the team post 10 total shutouts and yield just 0.9 goals per game. Furman added five points on the offensive end on two goals and an assist, with his top offensive highlight being the lone goal scored in the ODAC championship game at Lynchburg.

Jenkins, who will also serve as a team captain this season, had the most assists on the team last year among returning players, dishing out five helpers throughout the year. He also scored three goals for a total of 11 points, with 10 of his points coming over his final 13 appearances of the season.

Beyond the team’s 2024 all-conference talent back for another season is the team’s leading scorer among returning players in senior Buster Couhig. In 16 starts and 25 appearances, Couhig notched 12 points on five goals and two assists, while facilitating the offense on numerous more scoring opportunities.

Sophomore Ryan Sharpe paced all rookie players in 2024 with seven points on three goals and an assist. Sharpe Played in 24 of the team’s 25 games and started nine times. Two of Sharpe’s goals came up big for the Blue and White, as he produced the only goal in a 1-1 tie at Lynchburg during the regular season and a 1-1 draw against then 15th-ranked Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament, a game W&L went on to claim in penalties.

Three more players with 15 or more appearances last season are also back in juniors Trian Kechagias and Anthony Careccia and sophomore Justin Ceccanecchio. Kechagias led the trio with two goals and two assists, while Careccia started five times on the defensive end.

Senior Will Joseph is will be serving as a team captain for the second season in 2025, and he brings a wealth of on-field experience, playing in 71 games and over 6,000 minutes in goal.

Joseph started 24 games last season and has started 70-of-71 games in his career. Last season, Joseph produced a 0.92 goals-against average in 2,249:50 of action, with eight shutouts and a 0.739 save percentage. He has the second-most career shutouts in program history (23) and a 46-9-16 record.

An accounting and classics double-major, Joseph has also excelled in his off-the-field endeavors at W&L, being a six-time W&L Scholar Athlete, a three-time ODAC All-Academic Team student and a 2023 recipient of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Elite 90 award. He also earned the 2024 ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Men's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year and College Sports Communicators Third Team Academic All-America laurels.

Senior Willy Hall is in his first season as a team captain for the Generals. Hall enters the 2025 season with 72 games played and 62 starts as a defender.

On the pitch, Hall has been a strong contributor to the Generals' defensive success over the last three seasons, while he's added six points on a goal and four assists up top. Hall is a two-time All-ODAC player and made the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship All-Tournament Team.

A business administration major, Hall is a five-time W&L Scholar Athlete, three-time ODAC All-Academic Team student and a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection.

Junior Matthew Jenkins is the only non-senior team captain this season and he is also one of the team's top returning offensive weapons for 2025.

After scoring a goal and having one assist in 16 games as a first-year, Jenkins broke out as a sophomore to produce 11 points on three goals and five assists to vault up to Fourth Team All-Region and Third Team All-ODAC status. Also a 2024 All-ODAC Tournament Team player, Jenkins has 14 points on four goals and six assists in 39 career games.

Jenkins has also been a stellar student in Lexington, earning W&L Scholar Athlete status in all four terms so far and ODAC All-Academic Team twice as a business administration and creative writing double-major. Jenkins is also a member of the Real Estate Society and completed an internship at Woodfield Development Company in 2024.

Milestone Watch

Senior goalkeeper Will Joseph looks to cement his place as one of the best goalkeepers in program history this season. Entering the 2025 campaign, Joseph needs just two shutouts to break Michael Nyc’s ’22 program record for career shutouts (24). Joseph posted eight clean sheets last season after recording nine as a sophomore. He and Nyc are the only two goalkeepers in program history to have at least eight shutouts in a season multiple times.

Joseph can also move up the program’s career goals-against average list this season. He enters the season with a 0.91 career GAA across 6,236:08 of action, which is good for fifth in program history. Just ahead of Joseph are Gillen Beck ’18 (0.88) and Albert Civitarese ’15 (0.87).

The final list that Joseph is on watch for this season career saves. While not currently ranked, Joseph has stopped 166 shots in his career, including at least 65 in each of the last two seasons. He needs 43 to enter the program’s career Top 10 and 44 total saves to pass Mike Steinbrook ’93 for ninth place.