The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and Commissioner Dan Mara has released the results of the 2026 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll.
In voting done by the league's 11 head coaches, Chestnut Hill College was ranked tenth in the forecasted standings with 19 total points. Meanwhile, 2025 CACC runner-up Post University garnered five first place votes and 94 points to edge CACC Tournament champion University of Bridgeport for the top spot.
Post (9-3-7, 6-0-4 in 2025) was the CACC regular-season champion in 2025, the fifth consecutive season it has won or shared that crown. The Eagles received 94 points and five first-place votes, making them a slight favorite over the University of Bridgeport, which garnered 91 points and four first-place votes. The Purple Knights defeated Post, 4-3, in last year's CACC championship final. Both Post and Bridgeport received votes in the 2026 national Division II preseason coaches poll.
The next four positions in the CACC poll went to, respectively, Wilmington University (3rd, 81 points), Felician University (4th, 70), Thomas Jefferson University, (5th, 62), and Holy Family University (6th, 47). Wilmington and Jefferson each received one first-place vote. Georgian Court University was seventh with 46 points, while Caldwell University and Dominican University New York (40) tied for ninth. Rounding out the balloting were Chestnut Hill College (10th, 19) and Goldey-Beacom College (11th, 15).
The 2026 Griffins' Men's Soccer team returns 13 players from the 2025 squad, including second team all-conference honoree Abdoulaye Kamagate. Kamagate finished his 2025 season tied for the team lead with 16 points, scoring five goals and adding six assists. His six assists ranked second among CACC players. He recorded two goals in the Griffins' win over Virginia State and had two assists and a goal in Chestnut Hill's conference win over Goldey-Beacom College.
This year's team will also have 13 new faces, a combination of true freshman and transfers to give third-year coach Jesse Zafiratos plenty of depth for the season. Nine of the 13 have collegiate soccer experience with several of those having played on the NCAA division II level.
The team will seek to improve upon last year's 6-10-1 overall mark as they began pre-season practices this week. Their six wins were the most byt a Griffins' men's soccer team since the 2018 season. The team has scrimmages against Millersville University (August 16) and Albright University (August 22) at Victory Field before opening the regular season at Lackawanna College on August 27. Chestnut Hill has their regular season home opener on Sunday August 30 against West Liberty University.
Conference action is slated to start on Sept. 19 when the Griffins travel to face defending CACC Champion Bridgeport. At season's end, the top eight teams in the standings will qualify for the CACC Championship tournament. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Oct. 31 and Nov. 3 at campus sites. Wilmington will host the championship final on Nov. 7 at the Wilmington University Athletics Complex in Newark, Del. The CACC champion will automatically qualify for the 2026 NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championship.
