CIAC boys preseason best XI: Who are Connecticut’s stars for 2026?

South Windsor's Blake Lyons (left) and Staples' Adrian Rodriguez. (Ryan Allen)

With so much of the region’s top talent competing full-time at the MLS Next level, our CIAC boys preseason best XI offers an opportunity to highlight a group of players that is perhaps overlooked in the modern landscape.

Eight of the players in this story compete at the ECNL level in the spring; that league is widely considered to be a tier below MLS Next, but it still produces plenty of talented players who will go on to play college soccer.

It also, of course, produces some of the CIAC’s biggest stars. Those are the players we’re identifying here. From three members of FSA’s excellent 2010 team to multiple players who earned All-New England Conference recognition this past ECNL season, our preseason best XI is packed with talent.

CIAC BOYS WATCH LISTS: 20 forwards | 20 midfielders | 15 defenders | 10 goalies

Let’s dive in: