Marlborough, Mass. - November 13, 2026 - The New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) has announced its men's soccer postseason awards and All-Conference teams following the conclusion of the 2026 championship tournament. The nine coaches from across the conference selected 32 student-athletes to the All-NEWMAC teams this fall (16 on the First Team, 16 on the Second Team). In total, 13 student-athletes are repeat selections have been named All-Conference in 2023, 2024 or 2025 with MIT's Shikhar Motupally (Avon, Conn.) and Salve Regina's Adonis Santiago (Oakdale, Conn.) being the only three-time honorees of the group and 12 were first-time picks to the All-NEWMAC teams this fall.

Wheaton's Ben Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) was named as the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Soccer Athlete of the Year as the most dominant midfielder in the conference in 2026. Kane and the Lyons claimed their first NEWMAC champioship since 2013 and won 11 contests this year. Kane registered three goals and two assists for eight points and helped Wheaton rank in the top-30 in Division III in goals against average. Wheaton produced nine shutouts this year including a 2-0 decision in the NEWMAC title game against Coast Guard. Kane scored the equalizer against MIT in the NEWMAC semifinals and registered an assist on what proved to be the game winning goal. Kane is the fourth Wheaton student-athlete in four years to earn NEWMAC Men's Soccer Athlete of the Year honors and 13th in program history.

Wheaton's Owen Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) was named as the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Year. He teamed up with his brother Ben and led Wheaton to its first NEWMAC championship since 2013. The Lyons held their opponents to just 0.74 goals per game and to just 52 corner kicks in 19 contests this year. Just has Ben did, Owen registered three goals and an assist for seven points offensively this year and both will certainly factor in to this weekend's NCAA Tournament matchup. Kane is the second straight student-athlete from Wheaton to earn the NEWMAC Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Year award.

Emerson's Cade Lagerwey (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was named as the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year as he registered five goals for ten points in his first year in Boston. Lagerwey's five goals ranked third in the NEWMAC, while his ten points ranked ninth this fall. Lagerwey was a pivotal piece of Emerson's offense and guided the Lions to a pair of must win games down the stretch to reach the conference tournament for the third straight season. Lagerwey is the second student-athlete from Emerson to garner NEWMAC Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year honors and first sicne Cade Mallet took home the award in 2022.

MIT's Andrew Storton, in his first year as head coach for the Engineers, and his assistants of Jack Lavorel, Ivan Jutamulia, Adam Cohen and Tomas Griffin earned the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Soccer Coaching Staff of the Year award. Storton and his staff went 9-6-4 overall and 4-2-2 in NEWMAC play after missing the conference tournament in 2025. The Engineers earned the right to have a home game int he quarterfinal round where MIT defefeated WPI, 2-1, its first NEWMAC playoff win since 2015. 

Coast Guard's Michael Porter (Baltimore, Md.) was the recipient of the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Soccer Laurels of Academic Excellence Award for having the highest grade point average amongst all of the student-athletes competing in the championship match. Porter is an operations research and data analytics major with a 3.92 GPA in New London. Porter played and started in every game this fall and guided the Bears to their first NEWMAC Tournament Championship game in program history.

In addition to the major award winners, ten of the 13 First Team honorees were repeat selections with Motupally returning as now the only three-time honoree on the First Team. Coast Guard's Cole Miller (Annapolis, Md.), Babson's Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, NJ) and Will Lloyd (Lexington, Mass.) , Emerson's Daniel Bede (Framingham, Mass.) and Wheaton's Owen Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) all were First Team honorees in 2025, while Motupally, Springfield's Connor Policarpio (Bristol, Conn.), Wheaton's Ben Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) and WPI's Eli Marden (Shelburne, Vt.) were previous Second Team selections. Motpually and teammate Nico Mangiafico (Farmington, Conn.) earned two of the last four NEWMAC Rookie of the Year honors.

On the Second Team, Adonis Santiago (Oakdale, Conn.) joined Motupally as now one of two three-time NEWMAC All-Conference honorees this year, while Wheaton's Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, NH), WPI's Michael Montabana (Jamison, Pa.) and Springfield's Aidan Hallinan (New Windsor, NY) all add their second career All-NEWMAC selections to their resumes this fall.

Carson, Miller and Polo tied for the NEWMAC lead in goals with eight, while Motupally, Yablonovskiy and Policarpio led the conference in assists with five. The top point getter in the NEWMAC in 2026 was Miller with 20. Defensively, Santiago guided the conference in saves per game at 4.85 and notched four shutouts this fall.

2026 All-NEWMAC Men's Soccer Awards
NEWMAC Athlete of the Year: Ben Kane, Sr., M, Wheaton
NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Year: Owen Kane, Sr., D, Wheaton
NEWMAC Rookie of the Year: Cade Lagerwey, Fy., M, Emerson
NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year: Andrew Storton, MIT
NEWMAC Laurels of Academic Excellence Award: Michael Porter, Coast Guard

2026 NEWMAC All-Conference First Team
Student-Athlete	Institution	Position	Year	Hometown	Previous All-Conference Honoree
Jaime Pedraza	Clark	GK	Sr.	Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Nikolas Previte	WPI	F	Sr.	Andover, MA
Cole Miller	Coast Guard	F	Sr.	Annapolis, MD	1st (2025)
Connor Policarpio	Springfield	F	Sr.	Bristol, CT	2nd (2024)
Alexander Yablonovskiy	Babson	F	Sr.	Berkeley Heights, NJ	1st (2025)
Shikhar Motupally	MIT	M	Jr.	Avon, CT	2nd (2025), ROY (2024), 2nd (2024)
Nico Mangiafico	MIT	M	Sr.	Farmington, CT	ROY (2023)
Ben Kane	Wheaton	M	Sr.	Pembroke, MA	2nd (2025)
Drew Stephans	Babson	M	Gr.	Newton, MA
Daniel Bede	Emerson	D	Sr.	Framingham, MA	1st (2025)
Owen Kane	Wheaton	D	Sr.	Pembroke, MA	1st (2025)
Will Lloyd	Babson	D	Sr.	Lexington, MA	1st (2025)
Eli Marden	WPI	D	Sr.	Shelburne, VT	2nd (2025)
2026 NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team
Student-Athlete	Institution	Position	Year	Hometown	Previous All-Conference Honoree
Samuel Linkous	Coast Guard	GK	Sr.	Lewisville, TX
Adonis Santiago	Salve Regina	GK	Jr.	Oakdale, CT	2nd (2025), 2nd (2024)
Paco Polo	Wheaton	F	So.	Madrid, Spain
Carlo Carson	Emerson	F	So.	Brooklyn, NY
Declan Rhatigan	Wheaton	F	Sr.	Holderness, NH	2nd (2025)
Nicholas Adams	Babson	M	So.	Norwell, MA
Thomas Pelino	Emerson	M	Sr.	San Jose, CA
Michael Montabana	WPI	M	Jr.	Jamison, PA	2nd (2025)
Cade Lagerwey	Emerson	M	Fy.	Manhattan Beach, CA
Camaje Easton-Smith	Wheaton	M	Sr.	Hamilton, Bermuda
Naveen Jayaram	Coast Guard	D	Sr.	Tampa, FL
Aidan Hallinan	Springfield	D	Sr.	New Windsor, NY	2nd (2024)
Avery Dinham	Wheaton	D	Sr.	Coral Springs, FL

About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with seven Associate Members: New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 21 sports.