NEPSAC Boys Top 10: Way-too-early hierarchy for 2026

Milton Academy boasts a loaded returning class. (Brian Kelly)

The calculus for all the teams in this story just changed. Significantly.

The introduction of the ‘Open’ tournament — an ‘Elite 8’-style postseason competition — in NEPSAC boys soccer gives New England’s top prep teams a totally different end to strive for. The first- and second-tier programs from Class A and B, many of which appear here, will now be focused on how they can qualify for the Open, and thus how they stack up against teams they never would’ve compared themselves to previously.

The Open will be, at the very least, great for discourse.

But that’s a long way away. For now, with the recruiting period almost over and the 2026 season two months away, what does the NEPSAC boys hierarchy look like? And who is primed for a ticket to the inaugural Open?

Our way-too-early Top 10, below.

1. Taft

Class A | Founders
2025: 20-0-2 | NEPSAC champions (1st seed)
Hiro Suzuki

The Rhinos have enjoyed about as successful a two-year run as you’ll find in the NEPSAC; you likely don’t need us to tell you about the 34-game unbeaten streak and consecutive Class A titles. But Taft’s 2026 outlook is covered in uncertainty as Suzuki replaces Ozzie Parente; losing All-NEPSAC center back Marcos Santana (Tufts) and All-NEPSAC midfielder Mathis Elissaint (Kenyon) hurts, too. But returning senior forward Alex Calabro may be the best player in the NEPSAC to complement a strong group of newcomers, and it’s still Taft, so the Rhinos should be elite again. Suzuki certainly thinks so.

GO DEEPER: Meet Suzuki, the first-time NEPSAC coach taking over a Class A power

2. Milton Academy

Class A | ISL
2025: 12-5-3 | NEPSAC quarterfinalists (8th seed)
Chris Kane

Full disclosure — the Mustangs weren’t ranked this high in the initial draft of this story. But as I put together the second edition of our Best of New England rankings (coming soon, by the way), it hit me: Milton Academy is absolutely loaded. Senior captains Nicky Pittarelli (All-NEPSAC honorable mention) and Ethan Fine (one of Milton’s leading scorers in 2025) and senior No. 10 Emmanuel Cheyo are all destined for college soccer. Kwaku Jean-Charles Asare leads a strong group of returning senior defenders. Junior midfielders Dino Gavetti and Sam Li are among the best in their class in New England. Rising sophomore Henry Brown, a versatile midfielder/winger, impressed as a sophomore. And incoming junior Zak Skulte-Ouaiss was a starting center back for the Lebanese U-17 national team. Kane’s cupboards are almost overflowing.

3. Brooks

Class B | ISL
2025: 11-4-3 | NEPSAC quarterfinalists (2nd seed)
Matthew Carroll

The uncertainty at Brooks has nothing to do with talent. The quality in Carroll’s squad is immense — senior captain Latu Kayira (Duke) is one of the NEPSAC’s best players, and fellow All-NEPSAC forward Fernando Rivas-Lora (nine ISL goals in 2025) isn’t far behind. Throw in All-NEPSAC honorable mention Jax Cloutier, a junior center back, and a group of five talented sophomores, four of whom started as freshmen, and Brooks has a team capable of winning the ISL and qualifying for the Open. The only question? How Carroll’s team replaces the immense leadership it lost from its five-player 2025 senior class.

4. Northfield Mount Hermon

Class A | WNE
2025: 11-4-2 | NEPSAC semifinalists (3rd seed)
Charlie Malcolm

Despite playing in the weaker WNE, the Hoggers haven’t missed the Class A tournament since 2018. After graduating 12 seniors and eight starters from 2025, Malcolm went heavier on postgrads than usual — “I didn’t want to rebuild, I wanted to reload,” he said. So in come six postgrads, including goalie Jean Chretien from France’s Toulouse FC, who should be one of the NEPSAC’s top keepers, Alex Erdos from Rivers, who will start at center back, and midfielder Elliot Trott, an All-New England selection at Oceanside High (Maine) last season. Oh, and hyper athletic No. 9 Efe Iyahen is the leading returner after scoring 16 goals as a junior.

POINT-COUNTERPOINT: Our way-too-early predictions for 2027 Gatorade Player of the Year — with a twist

5. Mount Saint Charles

Class B | Independent
2025: 21-0-2 | NEPSAC champions (1st seed)
Nick Woodruff

What Woodruff and Mount have built in only two NEPSAC seasons is pretty astonishing, and the strategy that carried them to the top of Class B isn’t changing in 2026. The Mounties bring in 17 new recruits and will roster seven postgrads and five seniors. Whereas Mount had to play its attackers outside of their true positions the last two seasons, incoming postgrads Ben Crowe (Ledyard, Conn.) and Corven Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) give Woodruff two real No. 9s, while new postgrad Jake Evans (Catholic Memorial, Mass.) and incoming senior Emi Monzon (Bayside) are pure wingers. It’s almost an entirely new team — after Woodruff sent 17 players to college soccer last year — but it looks like a good one, too.

6. Loomis Chaffee

Class A | Founders
2025: 16-7-0 | NEPSAC quarterfinalists (6th seed)
Scott Halpern

Loomis has made four of the last five Class A tournaments but has only won one game in them, a curious run for a program that has become one of the NEPSAC’s best. In 2026, Halpern is both losing a lot (10 graduates, eight of whom are off to college soccer) and bringing back a lot (14 returners, 10 of whom are seniors); former NEPSAC junior All-Star selection James Drago, an attacker, and fellow co-captain Luca Gallo, a 6-foot-3 center back, should be the stars of the show, but a strong (if still fairly small) incoming class led by Oakwood’s Chris Saunders will contribute, too.

7. Avon Old Farms

Class A | Founders
2025: 13-4-3 | NEPSAC quarterfinalists (4th seed)
Carl Stensland

The only NEPSAC team that played Taft in 2025 and didn’t lose, Avon, like Loomis, is losing about as much (six starters) as its returning (five). Co-captains Jordan Alabre (a forward who exploded for Oakwood this past spring), Max Daigle and Hunter Collins (both senior defenders) will lead that group, but the Winged Beavers’ campaign is likely to be defined by their newcomers. CFC’s Jacob Chapman and William Korourakis will need to contribute as postgrads, and junior striker Keegan McCollough — after leading Simsbury (Conn.) to a state title a year ago — has potential to change Avon’s outlook if he keeps scoring. Two Liberian freshmen from Nation One Academy — Ekie Larkpawolo and Melvin Mayson — are wild cards as well.

MORE NEPSAC: NEPSAC soccer is getting its own fall showcase. Here’s what you need to know

8. Choate

Class A | Founders
2025: 16-5-2 | NEPSAC semifinalists (5th seed)
Charlie Fuentes

Choate’s got reason for optimism, both within their returners and their newcomers — returning senior co-captain Wisdom Humalie (nine goals as a junior), exciting rising sophomore winger Javi Hsu (who played at U-14 U.S. Soccer ID camp) and incoming postgrad Sasha Mykhalchuk (The Hun School, N.J.) provide formidable attacking talent. Returning senior co-captain Freddy Repton and incoming junior Dalton Crane provide the same at the back. But the Wild Boars did lose a ton — 10 graduating seniors, including two D1 players (Juliano Masella and David Villavicencio) and another playing professionally in Spain (Juan DelGado).

9. Middlesex

Class B | ISL
2025: 11-7-2 | NEPSAC quarterfinalists (6th seed)
Ken Risley

Finding a team for this spot was tough. Plenty of teams have a shout. The case for Middlesex starts with Adriano Valmora, a rising All-NEPSAC junior who finished third in the ISL in goals (18) and tied-third in assists (8) a year ago, and continues with NEFC’s Will McCarthy, a rising junior center back who was an All-NEPSAC honorable mention. Throw in an intriguing group of five newcomers, which includes junior forward Noah Helfgott, who arrives from Watford’s Academy (London), and Risley’s team could be formidable.

10. Nobles

Class A | ISL
2025: 18-2-1 | NEPSAC finalists (2nd seed)
Steve Ginsberg

Ginsberg has been the coach at Nobles for 26 years. Last year’s Class A finalists were, in his mind, the best team he’s ever had. 15 seniors from that squad graduated, so regression is nearly inevitable for the Bulldogs. The question, then, is the extent to which. Rising senior midfielder Nate Sykora (Harvard) and two-year starting goalie Oliver Stookey are the most experienced returners; the rest are all underclassmen. They’re talented, to be sure — especially rising freshman winger Luke Gellert, who played in every game for the varsity team as an eighth-grader in 2025 — but they’ll be inexperienced relative to the ISL and the NEPSAC.