Concord Pegged Second in MEC South Preseason Poll

Fairmont, W.V.a - The Concord University men's soccer team was pegged to finish second in the Mountain East Conference South Division as the MEC Preseason Coaches' Poll was released Thursday afternoon.

THE POLL

Place	Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Charleston (6)	36
2.	Concord (3)	35
3.	Salem	22
4.	Shawnee State (1)	18
5.	West Virginia Wesleyan	14

MEC North Poll: Davis & Elkins (36, 5), Point Park (33, 4), West Liberty (26, 1), Frostburg State (20), Wheeling (10)

2025 REVIEW:
Year three under head coach Alex Smith was another successful one in Athens as Concord posted a 13-4-3 record and made it to another MEC Championship game. The Mountain Lions climbed to as high as number 10 in the Division II National Poll, their highest ranking in program history. Concord's signature win came in the MEC Semifinal against West Liberty at Callaghan Stadium. The Mountain Lions edged out the Hilltoppers in a 3-2 thriller to advance to the MEC Championship.

2026 SCHEDULE:
Concord opens its season with a road trip starting on August 27 against Virginia State before taking on Chowan August 29. The Mountain Lions stay on the road for their conference opener against the reigning MEC Champions, Charleston, on September 6. Concord's first home game is set for September 9 against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Mountain Lions take on the Golden Eagles for a second time in the home finale on October 25 before rounding out their season on October 28 against Shawnee State. Concord plays a total of 13 conference games, eight in double round-robin versus the MEC South and faces all five teams in the MEC North once.

THE RETURNERS:
2026 will feature many new faces, but a few key figures from a season ago return to Athens. The top returning goal scorer coming back to the Mountain Lions is senior forward Dominique Malhomme. Malhomme racked up six goals and two assists in his first season at Concord, including the lone Concord goal in the MEC Championship game. Malhomme was named to the All-MEC Second Team for his efforts with the Maroon and Gray. Senior defender Zakari Messam started in 18 of 19 fixtures a year ago and stabilized Concord in defense. Messam contributed to CU posting eight clean sheets last season. Joining Messam in the defense is Adam Leibowitz who was named to the All–MEC Freshman Team after a solid freshman campaign. Leibowitz netted two goals and earned more and more playing time as the season rolled on. Graduate student Raheem Baptiste returns as a mainstay in the midfield, starting in 19 of 20 games for Concord. Also named to the All-MEC Second Team, Baptiste scored one goal in 2025.

THE NEWCOMERS:
The Mountain Lions bring in a slew of new players to the program, a total of 67. Of that, 34 are true freshman. Some impact transfers making their way to Athens include sophomore goalkeeper Mateus Sakaue (St. John's), sophomore midfielder Abayomi George (Stony Brook), junior forward Lucas Costa (Iowa Western CC) and senior midfielder Ezekiel Oswald (UT-Rio Grande Valley).