The winners of both the 2025 SCIAC regular season title and tournament championship, Occidental has racked up 78 points and topped the 2026 SCIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's head coaches.
The Tigers tallied five All-SCIAC players in 2025, of which two have returned for this season in Ayden Rieke-Wey and Cooper Gersch. Rieke-Wey led Occidental's attack last season by collecting six goals and two assists en route to a Second Team All-SCIAC selection. Rising senior Gersch earned a First Team All-SCIAC nod in 2025 for his efforts on the back line.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps claimed three first-place votes and are slotted to finish in second this year. Despite an eighth-place finish last season, the Stags earned three spots on the Second Team All-SCIAC, highlighted by returning players Atticus English and Zeno Bang. Two of CMS's top-three goal scorers from 2025 will also take the field in 2026 in Sean Lee and Collin Ross. Just two seasons ago, the Stags won the conference tournament and earned a trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Just six points seperated third-place Redlands and fifth-place Chapman in the poll with La Verne positioned in between. The Bulldogs were SCIAC Tournament finalists last season and will feature a pair of returning all-conference players in Anders Beckton and Zachary Darmanyan. Meanwhile, both the Leopards and Panthers graduated all seven of their combined All-SCIAC players and will look to re-tool through young talent.
Other notable players that will take the field this season include Niclas Ulrich of Pomona-Pitzer and Shaw Nishizawa of California Lutheran, who were Defensive Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively.
2026 SCIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Occidental - 78 points (six first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps - 66 points (three first-place votes)
3. Redlands - 51 points
4. La Verne - 48 points
5. Chapman - 45 points
t-6. Pomona-Pitzer - 39 points
t-6. Whittier - 39 points
8. California Lutheran - 16 points
9. Caltech - 14 points
Azusa Pacific*
* - Ineligible for SCIAC Championship as school transitions from Division II