Bridgewater, NJ -- Standout campaigns from the top half of the NEC men's soccer table resulted in three of the top five teams in the standings sharing the love when it came to the league's annual major awards.
Central Connecticut and LIU each collected two major honors, while New Haven claimed its first in program history as the league’s head coaches cast their annual votes for the NEC’s major awards and All-Conference teams.
CCSU second-year forward Santiago Marin Gutierrez (Heredia, Costa Rica/Combine Academy (Creighton)) was named the NEC Player of the Year and fourth-year back Miguel Gonzalez (Segovia, Spain/IES Mariano Quintanilla (Connors State College (OK)) earned NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors as the duo led the Blue Devils to their first NEC Tournament appearance in 13 seasons.
Earning the outright NEC regular season title for the first time since 2018, LIU is bringing more hardware back to the Island. Junior goalkeeper Samuel Reine (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn (UMSV)) was named NEC Goalkeeper of the Year, while first-year head coach Nate Bell and his staff earned NEC Coaching Staff of the Year accolades.
Freshman forward Matheus Guimaraes (Newark, NJ/St. Benedict’s Prep) made history for New Haven by winning the NEC Rookie of the Year award.
One of the top goal scorers in the conference this season, Marin Gutierrez has found the back of the net 10 times, which ties him for second in the league. The one-time NEC Player of the Week racked up the second-most points (23) in the regular season, while ranking third in points per game (1.44). Six of Marin Gutierrez’s goals came against conference opponents as the Blue Devils finished third in the conference table, the program's best finish since the 2020-21 season. The Costa Rica native ranks among the top 35 nationally in goals, goals per game, points and points per game, while his four game-winning goals rank eighth in Division I. This is the fourth time in program history a CCSU student-athlete has earned NEC Player of the Year honors and the first time since Reece Wilson was honored in 2012.
On the defensive end, Gonzalez held down a Blue Devil back line that stymied offenses across the NEC. CCSU tied for the second-most clean sheets in the conference this season with six overall and five of them coming against conference foes. The native of Spain helped CCSU limit opposing teams to just seven scores while posting a 0.88 GAA in eight league matches. Offensively, Gonzalez tallied five points on two goals and an assist, including a crucial tally in a 1-1 draw against New Haven that clinched the Blue Devils' first NEC Tournament berth since 2013. The senior defender became the second CCSU student-athlete ever to earn the Defensive Player of the Year award, joining David Tyrie (2007).
Since the NEC instituted the honor in 2020-21, the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year has hailed from LIU a conference-best three times with Reine being the latest netminder to join the club. The junior led the conference in three major stat categories, including GAA (0.50), save percentage (.862) and shutouts (five). His save percentage places him third nationally, while his GAA ranks sixth in Division I. During his first season donning the Blue and Gold, Reine conceded just one goal and made 22 saves across seven conference matches for a microscopic 0.15 GAA and .957 save percentage. All five of his shutouts came against conference opponents as the Sharks went unbeaten with Reine in net in NEC play. The Germany native joined Demetri Skoumbakis (2021) and Eoin Gawronski (2024) as NEC Goalkeeper of the Year winners from LIU.
Guimaraes made quite an impression in his first year with New Haven, leading all NEC first-year players with five goals, while ranking seventh overall. The Newark, NJ native helped lead New the Chargers to a 3-2-3 mark against conference rivals, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth. Four of Guimaraes’ goals came against NEC foes, including a two-goal outing during a 2-2 draw against Chicago State in October that earned him NEC Rookie of the Week honors. Additionally, the freshman forward was a two-time NEC Prime Performer selection this season. Guimaraes added an assist to finish with 11 points on the year on his way to becoming the Chargers’ first NEC men’s soccer major award winner in program history.
The Sharks took the conference by storm in Bell’s return to the LIU men’s soccer program. After previously serving as the team's lead assistant from 2014-17, the first-year skipper guided LIU to a 6-1-1 conference record and its first outright NEC regular season title since 2018 and sixth in program history. Under Bell’s direction, the Sharks paced the NEC in conference play with 21 goals scored and just four allowed. LIU also posted six shutouts and an .886 save percentage against NEC foes, both league-leading figures. Bell brings championship experience to the Sharks, having previously earned an NEC Tournament ring as a member of LIU’s coaching staff in 2015. LIU enters the 2026 NEC Championship as the top seed for the first time since 2021 and has set its sights on winning its sixth conference tournament title.
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
- FDU and LIU led the way with five All-NEC selections apiece with Central Connecticut and Le Moyne not far behind with three each. Mercyhurst and Stonehill both earned two All-Conference nods, while New Haven had one player named an all-star.
- After landing on the All-NEC second team for two straight years, Mercyhurst defender Benjamin Buckley (Doneraile, Ireland/Nagle Rice Secondary School) earned a spot on the first team in his senior season.
- FDU senior Gabriel Le Guen (Ploemeur, France/Lycée La Croix Rouge) was named an All-Conference second team defender after a first team campaign in 2025 and a All-Rookie selection in 2023.
- For the second straight season, Le Moyne redshirt junior Vito Kreuzpaintner (Munich, Bavaria, Germany/FOS Nord (UNC Wilmington)) garnered All-NEC second team laurels. The Dolphin defender was also an All-Rookie honoree in 2024.
- A pair of former All-Rookie strikers made their debuts on All-NEC squads as Le Moyne's Felix Ludemann (Wrestedt, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelsen) and Stonehill's Nate Monteiro (Brockton, MA/Cardinal Spellman) were both named second team NEC all-stars. Ludemann was tabbed to the All-Rookie squad in 2023, while Monteiro earned a spot on the team in 2024.
- LIU junior forward Tal Levy (Modiin, Israel/Yitzhak Rabin) was named to the All-NEC first team after leading the conference in goals (12), points (27) and points per game (1.93) during the regular season. The two-time NEC Player of the Week ranks in the top-15 nationally in all three stat categories.
- The future is bright for NEC men's soccer as six different programs landed an All-Rookie selection with LIU and Stonehill leading the way with three apiece.
About The NEC
Now in its 46th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9), Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 17 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.