Three Wildcats Named to Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Three Wildcats, including midfielder Agustin Lopez, and defenders Sinan Solmaz and Max Miller, have been named to the 2026 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team, per the release from the conference office Wednesday afternoon.
Lopez earns SBC preseason honors for the second consecutive season, coming off an incredible sophomore season for the Wildcats in 2025. Last season, he earned First Team All-Sun Belt, his second career postseason all-conference honor, and United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second Team. He appeared in 14 matches, making 11 starts, scoring four goals, which finished third on the team, two assists and 10 points. Last week, he was also listed on the Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist.
Solmaz, featuring as the first of two defenders on the all-conference team, enters his second season with the Wildcats after transferring from CSU Bakersfield last spring. The German international appeared and started in 16 of the Wildcats’ 19 matches in 2025, finishing the season with the team’s fourth-highest minute tally with 1,319. Primarily positioned as a left-sided center-back, he will headline the team’s defensive efforts heading into the 2026 season.
Miller earns the second Sun Belt honor of his career, previously being named to the all-conference team following his sophomore season in 2023. He enters his fifth season in Lexington, and his third as a team captain, after being selected as the 50th overall pick by Nashville SC in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft in December. He appeared in 12 matches for the Wildcats in 2025, including eight starts and recorded one assist in a 2-0 win at Coastal Carolina.
In the preseason coaches’ poll, the Wildcats were selected to finish fourth with 76 total votes, including two first-place votes, behind first-place West Virginia, Marshall and UCF.
This Friday, Aug. 14, the Cats will face the UAB Blazers at The Bell in the preseason finale, prior to the start of the 2026 regular season next week on Aug. 20 vs. Western Michigan.
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:
Pablo Pozos, West Virginia
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
Takahiro Fujita, UCF
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year:
Matisse Hébert, UCF
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
F – Pablo Pozos, West Virginia
F – Carl Romberg, Marshall
F – Lewis Rourke, Old Dominion
M – Agustin Lopez, Kentucky
M – Nacho Martinez, West Virginia
M – Isaac Scheer, West Virginia
D – Takahiro Fujita, UCF
D – Jem Hewlett, UCF
D – Max Miller, Kentucky
D – Sinan Solmaz, Kentucky
GK – Matisse Hébert, UCF
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)
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