2025 WAC Men's Soccer Release - Week 1

TIME TO KICK OFF 2025!
NCAA men’s soccer officially returns for 2025 with regular season matches beginning this week. All eight WAC men’s soccer members are scheduled to compete on Aug. 21 for the season’s opening day.

SDSU PROJECTED TO REPEAT AS TOP TEAM IN ‘25
San Diego State, last season’s regular season champion, received four first-place votes to finish atop the 2025 preseason predicted order of finish based on polling of the WAC’s eight men’s soccer head coaches. California Baptist added three first-place votes to check in second, followed by San José State (one first-place vote), UNLV and Utah Valley rounding out the top five teams in the predicted order of finish.

SJSU’S INIGUEZ AGAIN VOTED PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR BY THE WAC’S HEAD COACHES
San José State senior midfielder Angel Iniguez, the reigning conference offensive player of the year, was tabbed as the 2025 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches. Iniguez was a first-team all-conference midfield selection for the second straight season in 2024 after scoring 10 goals and adding seven assists over 19 matches to share the WAC lead with 27 points as a junior. Iniguez was particularly stellar in conference matches during his player of the year campaign, scoring six goals and adding four assists for a WAC-high 16 points in just seven league starts during the 2024 regular season.

SDSU’S NGUEPISSI, UTU’S SHORT ALSO RECOGNIZED
San Diego State sophomore defender Cianole Nguepissi was voted the 2025 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Nguepissi was a WAC All-Freshman Team selection in 2024 after making 15 appearances (12 starts) on the back line for the Aztecs, contributing two assists while competing in seven team clean sheets. The San Diego State defense featuring Nguepissi ranked second in the WAC last season in shutouts and in fewest goals allowed (22), slotting in with the third fewest shots on goal allowed (79) across all competitions. Utah Tech senior Stockton Short was selected as the 2025 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Short led all conference goalkeepers with 105 saves and 5.83 saves per match across 18 starts in all competitions last season, registering the second-highest save percentage at .784 after facing a league-high 134 shots on frame in 2024. Short and Utah Tech competed in 15 matches decided by one goal or less a year ago, earning a result in eight such contests.