Caldeira Named Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year as Mountaineers are Picked Second

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Aug. 13, 2025) – The West Virginia University males’s soccer workforce was tabbed to complete second within the 2025 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll, as introduced by the convention on Wednesday.
 
Senior Marcus Caldeira was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year whereas graduate pupil Carlos Hernando and sophomore Isaac Scheer joined him on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
 

The Mountaineers tallied 92 factors, together with two first-place votes within the coaches ballot. Marshall, the 2024 nationwide runner-up, was picked to win the convention with 97 factors and eight first-place votes. UCF was slotted in third behind WVU with 74 factors whereas Kentucky (67) and South Carolina (65) had been fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
James Madison was voted sixth (48), forward of seventh-place Old Dominion (36) whereas Georgia Southern (30), Georgia State (24), and Coastal Carolina (17) rounded out the ballot.
 
Caldeira is the Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. In 2024, he completed the season with 11 targets and 23 factors en path to being named to the All-Sun Belt second workforce and United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region second workforce. In his profession, he has 28 targets, ninth most in WVU historical past.
 
Hernando returns for his third season as an anchor for a robust WVU again line that allowed simply 1.05 targets per recreation final season and recorded 10 shutouts. He totaled 1,548 minutes performed, scoring two targets and tallying one help. Both his targets got here within the Sun Belt Championship as he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Scheer is again for his second season after a robust freshman marketing campaign. He performed in all 22 video games with 13 begins, logging 1,255 minutes. He scored three targets and had 5 assists, second most on the workforce.
 
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:

Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia (Sr., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)

 

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
Takahiro Fujita, Marshall (Jr., Nara, Japan)
 
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year:
Sebastian Conlon, Kentucky (Sr., Reston, Va.)
 
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
F – Ethan Ballek, South Carolina (Sr., Timnath, Colo.)
F – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia (Sr., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
F – Ryan Holmes, Georgia Southern (Jr., Milton Keys, England)
M – Agustin Lopez, Kentucky (So., Santa Fe, Argentina)
M – Isaac Scheer, West Virginia (So., Charlotte, N.C.)
M – Alexander Stjernegaard, South Carolina (Sr., Rungsted Kyst, Denmark)
M – Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez, South Carolina (So., Knoxville, Tenn.)
D – Takahiro Fujita, Marshall (Jr., Nara, Japan)
D – Carlos Hernando, West Virginia (Grad., Madrid, Spain)
D – Josh Gordon, Kentucky (Jr., Scarborough, Ontario)
GK – Sebastian Conlon, Kentucky (Sr., Reston, Va.)
*Ties weren’t damaged.
 
2025 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll

 
1. Marshall (8) – 97
2. West Virginia (2) – 92
3. UCF – 74
4. Kentucky – 67
5. South Carolina – 65
6. James Madison – 48
7. Old Dominion – 36
8. Georgia Southern – 30
9.  Georgia State – 24
10. Coastal Carolina – 17
Parentheses point out first-place votes
 
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