NEW ORLEANS - The 2026 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference Team were announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. Old Dominion was picked to finish seventh in the league as voted on by the Sun Belt Conference head coaches. Fourth year forward Lewis Rourke earned a selection to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team.
Rourke was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team last season after a 10-goal, three-assist, and 23-point campaign. He averaged 1.28 points per game and took 36 shots. He registered 21 of his shots on goal (58.3%) and scored one game-winning goal.
The Nottingham, England native got his goal scoring tally off the mark in his fifth match, scoring two away against Bucknell. He scored in back-to-back games when he found the back of the net in a 1-0 win against UMBC. Rourke scored in two straight games against Sun Belt Conference opponents. He beat the keeper in a 1-1 draw against South Carolina and a 1-1 draw against UCF. He also ended the regular season with goals against James Madison and #18 Kentucky, both were 1-1 draws that saw the Monarchs gain valuable points in the SBC standings. He scored both of ODU’s goals in the 2-2 () loss to West Virginia in the Sun Belt Conference Championships Quarterfinals.
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:
Pablo Pozos, West Virginia (4th Yr., F, Madrid, Spain)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
Takahiro Fujita, UCF (4th Yr., D, Kawai, Japan)
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year:
Matisse Hébert, UCF (3rd Yr., GK, Quebec, Canada)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
F – Pablo Pozos, West Virginia (4th Yr., F, Madrid, Spain)
F – Carl Romberg, Marshall (4th Yr., F, Werl, Germany)
F – Lewis Rourke, Old Dominion (4th Yr., F, Nottingham, England)
M – Agustin Lopez, Kentucky (3rd Yr., M, Santa Fe, Argentina)
M – Nacho Martinez, West Virginia (3rd Yr., M, Posadas, Argentina)
M – Isaac Scheer, West Virginia (3rd Yr., M, Charlotte, N.C.)
D – Takahiro Fujita, UCF (4th Yr., D, Kawai, Japan)
D - Jem Hewlett, UCF (2nd Yr., D, Bristol, England)
D – Max Miller, Kentucky (5th Yr., D, Lexington, Ky.)
D – Sinan Solmaz, Kentucky (4th Yr., D, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany)
GK – Matisse Hébert, UCF (3rd Yr., GK, Quebec, Canada)
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
1. West Virginia (4) - 94
2. Marshall (3) - 87
3. UCF (1) - 81
4. Kentucky (2) - 76
5. Georgia Southern - 55
6. South Carolina - 41
7. Old Dominion - 38
8. James Madison - 29
9. Coastal Carolina - 25
10. Georgia State - 24
(Parentheses indicate first-place votes)