Owls Picked Third in MASCAC Preseason Poll

Westfield State men's soccer was surprisingly picked third in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll released today.

Westfield won the conference tournament and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament a year ago with a 2-0 win over Salem State in the conference championship game.  Westfield traveled to #2 in the nation Tufts in the NCAA's and led the Jumbos 1-0 into the second half before eventually succumbing 2-1 to end the Owls' season with a 4-1-2 record in conference regular season play, and 9-7-5 overall.  

Westfield returns 11 of their top 12 scorers from 2024, plus Westfield will be bolstered by the return of Paul Whalley, who scored five goals as a first year in 2023 before missing last season due to injury.

Westfield also has first-team all conference goalkeeper Luke Theroux, second-team midfielder Sonny Mazza, and second-team defender Charlie Anischik back this season.  Whalley was a second-team pick in 2023.

The Owls will kick off the 2025 campaign on August 31 with a non-conference match at SUNY Cobleskill.

Salem State was picked to win the conference title, with Bridgewater State picked second.  The league's full release appears below:

Westfield, Mass.— Salem State was picked by the coaches from around the league to win the 2025 MASCAC Men's Soccer title in this year's preseason poll.

The Vikings land in the top spot after receiving four first place votes after making it to the conference title game in 2024. All-Conference midfielder Stephane Fevry is back where in his freshman campaign he netted four goals and three assists for 11 points, including two game-winners on the season.

Sitting in second is Bridgewater State who also had four first place votes. The reigning MASCAC Regular Season Champs were 6-1 in conference play to win the title last season. Nicholas Ribeiro found himself on the All-Conference squad last season after assisting on six goals while getting two of his own for 10 points along with a game-winner for the Bears.

Westfield State is next in third. The 2025 MASCAC Tournament Champs were 4-1-2 last season with help between the pipes from Luke Theroux who tallied a stat line of 18 goals against, a 1.26 goals against average, 74 saves, a .804 save percentage, and eight wins with five of those wins coming as shutouts to earn first team All-Conference accolades and help the Owls get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Coming in fourth is Fitchburg State. The Falcons collected a 3-2-2 mark in MASCAC play in 2024. In his first season with the team, Justin Job finished the year with five goals and two assists for 12 points, including three game-winners. His accolades earned him MASCAC Rookie of the Year honors.

Entering their first season as members of the MASCAC, Anna Maria was voted to finish fifth in the conference this season. Kyle Brocker returns to the AMCats after netting six goals and an assist for 13 points to earn All-Conference honors from their previous conference,

Worcester State is up next in sixth. The Lancers were 2-2-3 in MASCAC play last year and return Brendan Lower on defense who helped the squad hold opponents to a 1.94 GAA and three shutouts last season.

Grabbing the seventh spot is Framingham State. Jack Holt comes back for the Rams after he led the team in points with 11 on five goals and an assist while tallying a game-winner.

Closing out the 2025 poll are MCLA and Massachusetts Maritime in eighth and ninth, respectively. For the Trailblazers, Avery Manzolini netted five goals and two assists for 12 points with one game-winning tally. For the Buccaneers, two-time All-Conference winner Brody Calvert returns. Last season, he tied for first in the MASCAC with eight goals while assisting on one for 17 points.

Kicking off the men's soccer season with non-conference competition, the MASCAC schools return to the pitch Labor Day weekend. Find all the game info and video at mascac.com and mascac.tv.