LEXINGTON, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2026 Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll on Thursday, with Washington and Lee second at 111 points and one first-place vote.

No. 14 University of Lynchburg topped the coaches poll with 11 first-place votes and 121 points, while Hampden-Sydney slotted in one spot below W&L at 101 points. Bridgewater and Batten (formerly Virginia Wesleyan) came in a distant fourth and fifth place, respectively, to round out the Top 5 teams. The Eagles secured 84 points and the Marlins claimed 79 points.

The Generals shook off a tough start to the season and got hot with an 11-game unbeaten streak from mid-September to mid-October, winning eight games and drawing three to remain in both the ODAC and national pictures. W&L finished the year with a 7-1-1 record in conference play and made its fourth consecutive appearance in the ODAC title game, before rounding out the season at 11-5-5 overall and making the NCAA Tournament for a 10th straight season.

In his second year leading the Generals in 2025, head coach Lumumba Shabazz helped six players to All-ODAC laurels, including four first team selections, before Willy Hall ‘26, Spencer Furman ’27, Matthew Jenkins ‘27, Buster Couhig ’26 and Will Joseph '26 each made United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams.

2026 ODAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll

1. University of Lynchburg (11) 121 pts.
2. Washington and Lee University (1) 111 pts.
3. Hampden-Sydney College 101 pts.
4. Bridgewater College 84 pts.
5. Batten University 79 pts.
6. Randolph-Macon College 61 pts.
7. Roanoke College 57 pts.
8. Shenandoah University 56 pts.
9. Randolph College 48 pts.
10. EMU 41 pts.
11. Guilford College 18 pts.
12. Averett University 15 pts.

How to Watch

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is in year two of a five-year media rights agreement with FloSports ensures that all ODAC and W&L home contests will stream live on FloCollege with a subscription. Games will also be available on demand immediately for all subscription holders and new for the 2026-27 year, for free, on FloCollege, 24 hours after their conclusion on FloCollege.com.

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.

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.

2026 Schedule Overview

The 2026 W&L men’s soccer season schedule will consist of 16 games, with seven games at home and nine away from Lexington, and be made up of seven non-conference games to nine in ODAC play.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Generals will play six of their seven non-conference games right out of the gates, and it starts with a bang when they host No. 14 Lynchburg on September 1 at 7:00 p.m. W&L will see the Hornets later in the season as part of the ODAC schedule, but the home opener will not count towards the final ODAC standings.

After the season-opening rivalry game, the Generals have four straight road games beginning with a weekend trip north to battle Franklin & Marshall on September 4 and Johns Hopkins two days later. The team will then head to Lookout Mountain, Ga., for a pair of games at Covenant against the host Scots on September 11 and Maryville the following day.

W&L returns home for their final home game of September on the 19th to square off against the University of Mary Washington as a final tune-up contest heading into conference play. The Generals’ final non-conference game of the season will come in their annual mid-October contest against No. 24 Christopher Newport in Lexington on October 7.

ODAC SCHEDULE
The Generals will be home for four of their nine ODAC games this season, including Roanoke (10/3), Batten (10/10), Bridgewater (10/21) and Averett (10/28), with their road conference games consisting of Eastern Mennonite (9/26), Hampden-Sydney (9/30), Randolph-Macon (10/14), Lynchburg (10/17) and Guilford (10/24). The team’s Senior Day game this season will come prior to the Roanoke contest on October 3 as part of Parents and Family Weekend on campus.

POSTSEASON PLAY
The ODAC Tournament will begin on Saturday, October 31, with quarterfinal rounds being hosted by the top-four seeds in the conference. Semifinal games will then take place on Wednesday, November 4, with the two highest remaining seeds serving as hosts. The ODAC final will be contested on Saturday, November 7, at the highest remaining seed.

Key Returners

The 2026 Generals bring back a total of 22 players from their 29-man roster last season, including three of their six All-ODAC players and 2-of-5 All-Region performers.

Senior captains Matthew Jenkins and Spencer Furman headline W&L's top returning players, as both made the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team last season, as well as the All-ODAC First Team. Jenkins made 18 appearances last year and had eight points on two goals and four assists, while Furman anchored a strong W&L backline that allowed only 13 goals all year, the fewest in a season in 2013. Also playing in 18 games, Furman added six points himself on two goals and two assists.

Junior Ricardo Sanchez caps off the returning All-ODAC talent from last year's roster, as he collected All-ODAC Third Team laurels for the first time in his career. Sanchez tied for third on the team with 10 points on four goals and two assists, ranking behind recent graduates Buster Couhig and Willy Hall. Sophomore Sami Seife looks to continue his strong play as part of the W&L offense, as he matched Sanchez's outputs in goals, assists and points in his rookie season.

Defensively, the Generals return a strong and seasoned group. Senior Nick Apostolou leads the bunch as the only returning player on the roster who started all 21 games last season. He is joined on the defensive unit by sophomores Kaden Zion and Isaac Arrowood who started 17 games and 15 games, respectively, during their rookie seasons. Not only that, senior Anthony Careccia will look to solidify the defensive group after playing in 12 games last season and battling through mid-season injuries.

A few additional players made an impact for the Generals last season that are back once more. Seniors Jack Travis and Taha Kaba and junior Trey Peterson all played in all 21 games a season ago, with Kaba totaling 18 starts and nine starts combined from Travis and Peterson. Junior Justin Ceccanecchio made 18 appearances, and W&L also welcomes junior Ryan Sharpe back into the mix, who missed the final 17 games of 2025 due to injury. As a rookie in 2024, Sharpe played in 24-of-25 games with nine starts and led all rookies on the team in points (7) and goals (3).

Team Captains