AKRON — Five Akron men’s soccer players have been named to the 2026 All-BIG EAST team, the conference announced Wednesday, Nov. 11. Senior midfielder Matt Dreas and redshirt sophomore forward Thomas O’Rourke earned first-team honors to headline the Zips’ selections, the University of Akron Athletics reported.
Junior forward Remi Agunbiade and senior defender Matthew Paiva received second-team recognition, and junior forward Jack Roman was named to the third team, according to the University of Akron Athletics. The five selections reward a regular season that ended with Akron sharing the BIG EAST Midwest Division crown.
Dreas, the team captain, climbed a rung after earning second-team honors last season, the University of Akron Athletics reported. The senior scored twice and added an assist — with goals against Robert Morris and Providence — while starting 15 matches in the midfield.
O’Rourke led the Zips in both assists, with six, and points, with 14, and ranked in the top 10 in the conference in assists, according to the University of Akron Athletics. The redshirt sophomore scored in ranked wins over Cornell and Xavier and played in 14 matches with 13 starts — production that put him on the first team in his first season as a lineup fixture.
Agunbiade tied for the team lead with five goals and added two assists, the University of Akron Athletics reported. He earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after a two-goal performance in a win over DePaul in early October, and he scored the game-winning goal in a ranked victory over Syracuse. Akron fans know his name carries an unusual footnote: at the end of last season, Agunbiade was drafted in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft by San Diego FC — and he is still scoring for the Zips.
Paiva’s second-team honor came from the back line. The senior defender tallied four goals and two assists, twice earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week — including on Nov. 2, after his game-winner against Xavier — and played more minutes than any non-goalkeeper on the squad, according to the University of Akron Athletics. He anchored a defensive unit that recorded seven shutouts.
Roman started all 16 matches, scored twice and added four assists, the University of Akron Athletics reported. His season included the game-winning goal at Saint Louis in a rematch of the 2025 NCAA quarterfinal — the kind of road result that defined Akron’s regular season.
The honors land on a program in the middle of another deep November. Akron finished the regular season 11-1-4 overall and 4-1-3 in the BIG EAST, shared the Midwest Division title with Creighton, and carries the No. 3 seed into the conference tournament — the latest chapter in a strong Ohio college and high school soccer week that NewsForce247 has followed from Hudson girls soccer’s perfect run to the state final to Liberty-Benton and Ottawa Hills reaching state finals.
The individual honors mirror the team’s standing nationally. Akron is ranked No. 4 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25, and the Zips’ five selections trailed only Georgetown’s eight and Creighton’s seven across the conference, according to the BIG EAST announcement. Head coach Jared Embick’s squad shared the Midwest Division crown with identical 4-1-3 league records — Akron and Creighton now meet again with a championship-game berth on the line.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on. Confirmed from the conference announcement and the University of Akron Athletics: the five selections and their teams, the individual statistics for all five players, Akron’s shared division crown and its No. 3 tournament seed. Ahead: whether a roster honored this heavily can convert it into a tournament title — and how far the Zips go in the NCAA field beyond it.
What happens next is immediate: Akron faces No. 2 seed Creighton on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5 p.m. at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland, in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, the University of Akron Athletics reported. The two teams shared the division crown with identical league records — Thursday settles which one plays for the championship.
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA