AUS Men’s Soccer End of Season Review

Nov 26

Dalhousie Tigers celebrating winning the 2025 AUS Championship on October 19th, 2025 after a thrilling 3-2 win over the #1 seeded Cape Breton Capers. Photo by Bryan Kennedy

The AUS soccer scene is one of the most popular and exciting in Atlantic Canadian Sports. The sport’s evolution over the years, coupled with a strong quality of play, has led to a significant increase in attendance and local attention. Now that the 2025 AUS Men’s soccer season has concluded and the Dalhousie Tigers have finally captured their long-awaited title under 4th-year coach Alan Jazic, it’s time for us to look ahead to the top teams to watch out for heading into 2026. There are a variety of factors, including each team’s top returning players, recruiting, and 2025 performances, that go into these rankings, and this past AUS season has left us with no shortage of information to consider. With that being said, here are the end-of-season 2025 AUS men’s soccer power rankings.

Dalhousie Tigers

Top 2025 Performers - Ben Hashimoto, Jack Ellis, Mohammed Wahdan, Mohammed Tolba
2025 Record: 10-2-2

After defeating the mighty Cape Breton Capers in what might go down as one of the best AUS soccer matches of all time, the Dalhousie Tigers ended 2025 as the kings of the AUS, and with a young team filled with talent, there’s no reason to think their dominance shouldn’t continue in 2026. Despite losing star captain Jack Ellis and wing back Woody Bain to graduation, the majority of the core that makes this tigers team great appear to be returning in 2026. Forwards Mohammed Tolba, Mohammed Wahdan (AUS playoff MVP), and Ben Hashimoto will be manning the Tigers' attack once more, while the return of 2x first-team all-star goalkeeper Sinclair Astridge provides a sense of security in the Tigers' goal for years to come. There is no question that these tigers have the firepower necessary to defend their title in 2026; the question is, will they be able to handle the pressure of being top dogs?

2. Cape Breton Capers

Top 2025 Performers - Max Piepgrass (AUS MVP), Harvey Hughes, Amadou Bayo
2025 Record: 10-2-2

On October 19th, at halftime of the AUS finals, the Cape Breton Capers were on top of the world, the regular season AUS #1 seed and heavy championship favourites were 2-0 up against the Dalhousie Tigers with their sights set on finally capturing back what has been historically their AUS title to win for the first time since 2022. Then, disaster struck. The Tigers completed the infamous comeback, and CBU will be heading into 2026 still waiting to win back that AUS title, this time without AUS MVP Max Piepgrass and Halifax Wanderers first round draft pick Harvey Hughes. However, With Dino Morley and his impeccable recruiting ability at the helm, there should be no doubt that the 2023 national champion Capers will be back near the top of the table next season, this time reloaded and with revenge on their minds.

3. The University of New Brunswick Reds

Top 2025 Performers - Christopher Schmit, Hunter DelaHunt, Stefano D’Ambrogio, Alex Oprea
2025 Record: 7-5-1

The Reds are one of the perennial, year-in-year-out high-achieving teams every year in the AUS. However, the fact of the matter is this team had a disappointing 2025 campaign, and will lose three significant pieces in Stefano D’ambrogio, Christopher Schmidt, and veteran goalkeeper Jensen Brown next season. This Reds team will look and feel much different in 2026, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing. This is a team known for its high press and energetic style of play. They’re a team nobody looks forward to playing against, who can go toe to toe with any team in the AUS on any given night. This was highlighted in their 1-0 win against Dalhousie on September 28th. The majority of 2025 was a testament to the strength of this team. However, they found their kryptonite in the Moncton Aigles Bleus, and their white hat aspirations were abruptly ended by the sting of two consecutive defeats to their cross-town rivals, including a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to the Aigles Bleus in the AUS quarterfinals. Looking ahead to 2026, The Red’s reputation comes much in thanks to returning seniors Alex Oprea, who led the AUS in assists in 2025, and striker Hunter Delahunt, who was tied for the AUS golden boot in 2025. With both of these guys returning, the sky could be the limit in Fredericton next season.

4. St. Francis Xavier X-Men

Top 2025 Performers - Entire Senior graduating class
2025 Record: 9-2-2

Being back-to-back AUS champions going into the 2025 season, it might surprise some people to see this STFX team ranked at #4 as we look ahead to 2026. However, this was a team primarily revolving around their senior class, and as good of a recruiter Graham Kennedy is, it’s hard to imagine this team won’t take a bit of a step back in 2026 after losing so many key pieces. Among this star-studded X-Men senior class were some of the nation’s best players in Luke Green, Max Bodurtha, Logan Rieck, former AUS MVP Kyle Cordeiro, and all-star goalkeeper Sam Diltz. By anyone’s standards, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. However, you never know with this group, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see them have a big year after having their 2025 season ended in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of a 2-1 semifinal loss on home soil to the Dal Tigers. Returning midfielder Isaac VanWychen, who was tied as the AUS points leader in 2025, looks to avenge this semi-final defeat and take a leadership role for the X-Men in 2026. Furthermore, the X-Men have already secured commitments from two of the top local players in the high school class of 2026, with HFX Wanderers U21/Canada Games player Cohen Hawes and Canada Games team captain Grady Lohnes. These youngsters should look to take on big roles in their first year with the team, in what will be the start of a new era for X-men soccer next season.

5. Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus

2025 was a massive success for this Moncton team, and the future looks bright heading into 2026. New Halifax Wanderers draftee and AUS rookie of the year Kautchy Andji-Yapi looks like a superstar, Somalia Mohamed Dagnoko had an All-Star 2025, Mael Lavail tied for the AUS lead in points, and you can just tell how close this team is to going all the way. The energy of this group was clear by the way the Aigles Bleus rallied to defeat UNB in the AUS quarterfinals, thanks to 90th-minute heroics from Philippe Gallant and an incredible shootout performance from goalkeeper Soan Janssen. This Moncton team is well known in the AUS to be a scrappy, tough team that doesn’t go down without a fight. The team also competes on by far the largest pitch in the AUS, which offers a significant home-field advantage that this team has certainly benefitted from in recent years. With that being said, in the 77-year history of AUS men’s soccer, Moncton remains the only team that has never won it all. Could 2026 be the year they finally do it?

6. University of Prince Edward Island Panthers

Top 2025 Performers - Jahmal Boursiquot, Javier Zaragoza, Isaac Sommerville
2025 Record: 3-9-0

On August 31st, 2025, first year head coach Jed Davies and his new look Panthers filled with high profile recruits were on top of the world. They had just handed CBU their first regular-season defeat since 2021 in dramatic fashion, thumping the Capers 3-0 on home soil. Then, it all came crashing down, as the Panthers went on to lose 8 of their remaining 10 games of the season, missing the AUS playoffs for the 4th straight season. These shortcomings shouldn’t be the only takeaway from this season, though. The reality is, we should have known things were going to take a while to click. It’s hard to bring in an almost entirely new squad to this league and expect immediate results, regardless of how talented that squad clearly is. Jamal Boursiquot was the star of the show for the Panthers in 2025, becoming a first-team all-star behind his 8-goal campaign. Star first-year goalkeeper Javier Zaragoza was another big piece, tallying up an impressive 58 saves in 2025. Both of these guys should be returning in 2026 alongside all-star rookie Issac Sommerville. Give Jed Davies one more year with this talented group, coupled with his elite recruiting abilities, and I would pencil them in for a playoff spot in 2026.

7. Saint Mary’s University Huskies

There is only one word to describe the Saint Mary’s Huskies men’s soccer team in 2025, that word is “injuries,” And man did this team have a lot of them. It was an unfortunate situation, particularly because on paper, without injuries, this 2025 SMU team looked like a playoff lock. However, at many points in the 2025 season, it felt like we were watching the Huskies' reigning AUS MVP forward Colby Mercer playing without the vast majority of his expected supporting cast. The most peculiar aspect of the Huskies' season was their goalkeeper room. Many assumed going into the season that the Huskies' starting goalkeeper would be Isaac Mathers, a talented young goalkeeper who was a top local recruiting piece for these Huskies. However, after a concussion kept Mathers sidelined for the entirety of 2025, the Huskies were sent down a whirlwind of goalkeeping issues before Logan Briand and Thomas Mello, two in-season acquisitions, shared the Huskies' goal in 2025. Despite these injuries, there were certainly bright spots for this Huskies team. They picked up a thrilling 2-1 upset victory over Dalhousie on September 17th, fuelled by two late goals and a man-of-the-match performance from Mello in goal. There’s also loads of potential for this team in 2026 with a talented young core of players returning. Despite losing Mercer to graduation, the Huskies will retain top players, including Jake Willcox, Will Brown, Jima Majok, and hopefully Issac Mathers going into next year. Locked and loaded with young talent after an unfortunate 2025, Mesut Mert’s young huskies should be a team to look out for in 2026.

8. Memorial University Seahawks

The 2025 season proved yet again something we all knew about the Memorial Seahawks: that this team will fight to their last breath, and nobody wants to play them in Newfoundland. This was best captured by their ability to squeak a 1-1 draw with a formidable STFX team on home soil, to narrowly squeak into a playoff spot on the back of a brilliant 9-save performance from first-year keeper Ben Collingwood. The 2025 season overall was a bit strange for these Seahawks, though. They started the season top of the table after 4 games, then quickly lost their next four, before having to dig deep to squeak into the playoffs behind all-star seasons from 2nd year defender Luke Peddle and senior midfielder Hashem Khalifa. Assuming they are able to maintain their beginning-of-season form, there is no doubt that Jake Sanford’s group is a scrappy, high-pressure, and tenacious bunch. As usual, no AUS teams will be excited to take that plane ride to the Rock next season.

9. The Acadia Axemen

. The Axemen’s 2025 season ended in heartbreak. Despite thumping SMU 5-1 on the last day of the AUS season, the Axemen missed out on their first playoff appearance since 2018 on a goal difference tie breaker with Memorial. This unfortunate particularly stung for Acadia as it was the last game of Jabu Deng’s remarkable career, a player who’s 2025 campaign cemented him as one of the best players in program history. The reality is this team’s 2025 season makes them deserving of a higher position on this list, but the departures of graduating seniors like Deng, AJ Maganura, and Max Rodgers are difficult to not take into account. With this in mind, 2025 still cannot be viewed as anything less than a huge step in the right direction for Matt Holton’s Axemen. Their success included the emergence of players like Sam Young, Aaron John, and Tony Adeoya, who seemed to finally come into his own as a prolific goalscorer for the Axemen in 2025. The season may have ended in heartbreaking fashion for these Axemen, but Matt Holton seems to seriously have this ship sailing in the right direction heading into next season. With the hope that star midfielder Nathan Amoah returns for a 5th year, this team should be back in the mix for a playoff spot in 2026.

10. Mount Allison Mounties

Top 2025 Performers - Jack Bennett, Daniel Amarouche, Rhys Chambers

2025: 0-10

It’s safe to say that the 2025 season went much differently than head coach Derrick O’Keefe had hoped for his 4th year at the helm of rebuilding this Mounties program, and certainly was not the ending Jack Bennett and Rhys Chambers deserved for their careers. For the last couple of seasons, Mount Allison looked to be on the rise. In each of Derrick O’Keefe’s first 3 years as head coach, the team had picked up more points than the last, which is much more than can be said for the 8 winless seasons that came before O’Keefe’s arrival in Sackville. With this in mind, it would be unfair to say this 2025 MTA team was the same as the teams in past winless seasons. Rather, their winless 2025 campaign should serve more as an example of the improvement in AUS quality of play over the years. The Mounties will also look to return several important players next season, with team captains Daniel Amarouche and Josh Jenner returning for their senior seasons as Mounties. This team may look down at the moment, but if history is any indicator, this team will bring the same scrappy energy to every match they play in 2026.

Artie Fotheringham

AUS Men’s Soccer End of Season Review

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