COLONIA, N.J. – D’Youville led the way by claiming four out of the five major awards to highlight the 2026 East Coast Conference Men's Soccer All-Conference selections, as voted on by the league's nine head coaches and announced on Wednesday afternoon prior to the start of the 2026 ECC Men's Soccer Championship. Headlining major award winners was Mercy’s senior forward Jacob Lund-Iversen who earned ECC Offensive Player of the Year honors. D’Youville collected the four remaining awards with Jonas Driesch tabbed as the ECC Defensive Player of the Year, Matthew Solorio collecting the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year, freshman back Liam Ulinski selected as the ECC Rookie of the Year, and head coach Sean Hallas voted by his peers as the ECC Coach of the Year.
2026 ECC Regular Season Champions, St. Thomas Aquinas, led All-Conference honorees with an ECC-most seven selections. D’Youville, Mercy, and Queens followed with six picks each, while the Saints earned an ECC-leading four First Team choices. District of Columbia placed four on the teams, Molloy added three to the lineups, and Staten Island landed two.
Lund-Iversen was named as the ECC's Offensive Player of the Year after producing one of the nation’s best offensive outputs of the 2026 campaign. The Mavericks senior forward led the ECC and sat amongst the best in NCAA Division II with his 33 points (6th in nation), 13 goals (10th in nation), and four game-winning goals (8th in the nation). In 18 matches this year, Lund-Iversen also led the ECC with averages of 1.83 points per game and 0.78 goals per game, which ranked 12th and 18th in the nation, respectively, while adding seven assists, which was second-best in the ECC and 20th in the country. He also recorded 2.61 shots per contest, 1.50 shots on goal per outing, and a shot accuracy of .574, all of which ranked second in the ECC.
ECC Defensive Player of the Year Driesch started in all 17 matches for the Saints, logging 1,427 minutes on the back line. The senior turned in 15 full contests and played the full 90:00 in all eight ECC games. Driesch was a key part of a stingy D’Youville defensive unit that produced nine clean sheets during the regular season, including five within ECC action, only conceding five total goals in conference matches. He also added five shots with two on goal during the year.
Solorio captured the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year after going 6-3-4 in net, with 14 starts and 15 total appearances, while logging 1260:00 minutes played. A junior for the Saints, he had an ECC-leading eight shutouts during 2026, a mark that ranked sixth in the nation at the conclusion of the regular season. Solorio also ranked second in the ECC in goals against average (0.857), eighth in save percentage (0.739), and ninth in total saves (34). Overall, he only allowed 12 goals in total, while conceding just five in ECC play, holding four ECC opponents to shutouts. Moreover, he was a two-time ECC Goalkeeper of the Week, which was tied for the most among goalies this season.
Garnering the ECC Rookie of the Year award was the other half of D’Youville’s stellar defense, in center-back Ulinski. The freshman defender started in all 17 games and was the Saints leader in minutes played, spending 1,429 minutes on the pitch during his first season in Buffalo, NY, playing all 90:00 minutes in 15 matches . Ulinski aided in the success of D’Youville’s defensive that registered nine clean sheets overall (five during ECC play), while giving up five total ECC goals. He also accounted for five shots offensively.
In this third year at the helm of the Saints, Hallas was picked as the ECC Coach of the Year following a regular season in which D’Youville finished at 7-4-4 overall and 4-1-3 in the ECC, collecting 15 conference points. Under his leadership, the Saints closed out the regular season unbeaten in ECC action over their last five contests, earning the No. 2 seed and a First Round bye in the ECC Championship. Just one year after finishing with 7 ECC points and missing out on the tournament, Hallas’ D’Youville squad generated the ECC’s best turnaround in 2026, posting a +8 in ECC points and leading his team to its second ever postseason berth.
2026 ECC Men's Soccer All-Conference First Team
F - Jacob Lund-Iversen, Mercy
F - Jalen Moni, St. Thomas Aquinas
F - Ethan Robinson, D’Youville
M - Kleverson Bolanos, Queens
M - John Hollis, Mercy
M - De la vibora Jorge, St. Thomas Aquinas
M - Shawn Richardson, D’Youville
B - Joaquim Cardoso, St. Thomas Aquinas
B - Jonas Driesch, D’Youville
B - Pau Ramon, Mercy
GK - Matthew Solorio, D’Youville
2026 ECC Men's Soccer All-Conference Second Team
F - Keithland Cesar, Queens
F - Tommy Gunn, Queens
F - Mael Pierre Paul, Molloy
M - Ewan Brodie, D’Youville
M - Isaiah Daniel, District of Columbia
M - Jerry Tagliavia, St. Thomas Aquinas
M - Jack Veletanga, Molloy
B - Zachary Parker, District of Columbia
B - Matt Star, Molloy
B - Tommy Wagner, Queens
GK - Dante Muntane, St. Thomas Aquinas
2026 ECC Men's Soccer All-Conference Third Team
F - Guilherme Alegria, St. Thomas Aquinas
F - Joel Martinez, Mercy
F - Christopher Ruiz, District of Columbia
M - Maddox Behnfeldt, Queens
M - Herman Borke, Mercy
M - Peterson Larose, Staten Island
M - Dylan Meadows, Staten Island
B - Ryan Harding, Queens
B - Liam Ulinski, D’Youville
B - Eitan Zeitoune, St. Thomas Aquinas
GK - Sean Green, Mercy
GK - Lorenzo Herrera, District of Columbia
NOTE – Two Third Team goalkeepers due to tie in voting for final spot
Offensive Player of the Year: Jacob Lund-Iversen, Mercy, F, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year: Jonas Driesch, D’Youville, B, Sr.
Goalkeeper of the Year: Matthew Solorio, D’Youville, GK, Jr.
Rookie of the Year: Liam Ulinski, D’Youville, B, Fr.
Coach of the Year: Sean Hallas, D’Youville
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Founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student-athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: Daemen University (Amherst, N.Y.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); D'Youville University (Buffalo, N.Y.); Mercy University (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); Molloy University (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, N.Y.); College of Staten Island (Staten Island, N.Y.); and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). The ECC also is home to 13 associate members in the sports of women’s bowling (3), men’s and women’s indoor track & field (3), men's volleyball (2), field hockey (1), and men’s lacrosse (1).
The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; women's bowling; men’s and women’s cross country; field hockey; men’s and women’s lacrosse; men’s and women’s indoor track and field; men’s and women’s outdoor track and field; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and men's and women’s volleyball.
The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student-athlete.