The Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team will look to build upon a solid 2025 season when it kicks off the 2026 campaign on Tuesday, September 1 against Ohio Wesleyan at home.
The Spartans went 7-5-5 last season, their fourth consecutive season with a .500 or better record. The team was led by its standout defense a year ago, posting a program record 10 shutouts in 17 games.
Newcomers
Head Coach Carter Poe, embarking on his seventh year and sixth full season leading the squad, brought in 12 student-athletes to the program, including nine first-year players. Graduate student forward Saiheed Jah will use his last year of eligibility in Cleveland after three years and 23 games with the Division I Drake University Bulldogs. Junior midfielder Toby Longnecker played for one year at the College of Southern Idaho, which competes in the NJCAA, scoring once and adding four assists in 15 games. Sophomore defender Kamil Georges will join nine first-year players hoping to make their collegiate debuts on the pitch. The incoming players include goalkeeper Louis Markin, midfielders Spencer Abbott, Colton Anckaitis, Leo Miranda, Abdullah Omar, Milo Schmidt, Sebastian Snibbe, and Tad Woolfe, and forward Grayson Davis.
Goalkeepers
The Spartans will see a new face in front of the net after the graduation of Bradley Winter, who was named to the All-Region Third Team and All-University Athletic Association First Team last season. Markin and sophomore Carter Shedd will compete for time as the CWRU netminder in 2026. Shedd, from Raleigh, North Carolina, was named his conference's goalkeeper of the year in high school, and Markin, from Charlotte, received All-State honors as a senior in high school.
Defenders
Despite losing All-UAA First Team selection Phillip Washington from the backline, the Spartans bring back a solid group of defenders in 2026. Sophomore Alex Eby missed just 15 minutes of action in 2025 and received All-UAA honorable mention after his first collegiate season. Sophomore Gavin Trosch and senior Philip Vlastaris also saw significant action in 2025, combining for 2,320 minutes in the field. The fourth spot on the backline could be filled by senior Cormac Apostolides, who missed all of last season due to injury but started 12 of 16 games in 2024, and senior Cameron Thayer, who started the team's final six contests last year and has 2,004 minutes in the field over his three seasons at CWRU.
Sophomores Milo Stehling (two appearances) and Maximilian Majewski (one appearance) add experienced depth to the position, and sophomore Josh Ang and Georges will try to break into the defensive rotation.
Midfielders
The Spartans return plenty of experience to their midfield, including top three goalscorers from 2025. Senior Ohta Kamiya led the squad with five goals last season and has appeared in 35 games across three years with seven total goals and two assists. Senior Adam Pluszczyk scored four times last year in 14 games and has 19 career points on eight goals and three assists in 39 appearances for the Spartans. Junior Mitchell Fein played in every contest last season, scoring once with two assists, and sophomore Micah Rossen also had two goals and an assist in 12 appearances. The most experienced returnee is senior Sean Wilson, who has missed just three games in his career with 17 total starts. Wilson has five career goals and one assist. Junior Owen Guffey came off the bench in all but one game last season, and junior Ashton McNally has 23 career appearances with two goals and an assist.
Adding experience to the position group are sophomores Raj Chitre (10 career appearances) and Aydin Sumer (eight career appearances) and senior Hayden Fischer with four career appearances. Abbott, Anckaitis, Longnecker, Miranda, Omar, Schmidt, Snibbe, and Woolfe will all be looking to make their first appearances with the squad.
Forwards
At the top of the pitch, junior Amir Awais brings significant scoring experience to the team. Awais appeared in every game last season, making 13 starts, and has six career goals and one assist as a Spartan. Junior Joseph Jung came off the bench three times in 2025 as well.
The quartet of Abbott, Davis, Jah, and Snibbe will be making their Case Western Reserve debuts in 2026 at the forward position.
Coaching Staff
Poe has led the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament twice in his five full seasons at the helm of the team, compiling a 38-24-22 (.583) record with CWRU. In his 11 career years as a head coach, Poe is 84-56-34 (.580) with stops at Case Western Reserve and Mount Union. Assistant coach Fernando Lisboa will start his third year on the sidelines with CWRU.
Schedule
The Spartans start the season on September 1 with a home matchup against Ohio Wesleyan. The team welcomes Juniata to DiSanto Field on September 5 before a road game against Wooster the following day. After a short road trip to Oberlin, CWRU returns to Cleveland for four home games in a row. Lycoming (September 12), Allegheny (September 13), Kenyon (September 19), and John Carroll (September 23) will all battle the Spartans on the Case Western Reserve campus during the two-week stretch. The team will wrap up non-conference play with a trip to Angola, Indiana, to face Trine.
The Spartans open UAA play with road games against Rochester and WashU, who reached the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season. Following the game against the Bears, CWRU has home conference matchups against Chicago on October 17, Brandeis on October 23, and NYU on October 25 with both the Maroons and Judges reaching the second round of the postseason a year ago. The squad's final road trip will be a journey to Atlanta to face national semifinalist Emory, and the regular season ends with a home game against Carnegie Mellon on November 7.
Postseason selections will be announced on Monday, November 9 with the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament scheduled for November 14 and 15 at campus sites. For the third consecutive season, the 21 at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Power Index (NPI).
