Thursday, August 20
West Point, NY
5:00 PM MT
Air Force Academy
at
Army
Men's Soccer Opens the 2026 Campaign at Army
8/19/2026 2:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer
MATCH 01
Air Force (0-0) at Army West Point (0-0)
7:00 pm ET, Thursday, August 20
Malek Stadium at Clinton Field
A FRESH START
The Falcons open the 2026 campaign against service academy rival Army West Point, Thursday evening at Clinton Field. Air Force trails in the all-time series, 10-18-4, dating back to the first match in 1963. In the last 10 years, the teams are tied at three wins apiece. Army has won the last two meetings while the Falcons won the two prior. The last four matches have been decided by a one goal differential. The last time AF beat Army was in 2019, in West Point.
AT THE HELM
Greg Dalby enters his second season as the Air Force head coach in 2026. Dalby took the reins on January 13, 2025. Dalby came to the Academy via Oregon State, where he was the head coach for two seasons (2023, 2024). He led the Beavers to great success in his two seasons, accumulating a 21-11-8 overall record.
Oregon State went to the NCAA Tournament both years, including a run to the College Cup in 2023. The Beavers went 11-6-5 in Dalby's first season, with a run that included four NCAA Tournament victories before falling to Notre Dame in the national semifinals. Oregon State ended the season ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, the highest postseason mark in program history.
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Air Force announced juniors Oliver Becker and Andrei Bulankou, along with sophomore Tucker Kern, as team captains for the 2026 campaign. Becker and Bulankou were sophomore team captains in 2025. Kern follows in the footsteps of his oldest brother, Ben Kern, who was team captain of the AF men's soccer team in 2015. He is the third of three Kern brothers to play soccer at USAFA (Ben Kern '15, Will Kern '21).
A NEW HOME IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
The MW is the first NCAA Division I conference to add men's soccer since the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023 and the Sun Belt Conference's reinstatement in 2022. The first-ever MW men's soccer lineup features Air Force, Grand Canyon, San José State, UC Davis, UNLV and Utah Tech.
Grand Canyon and San José State are both coming off double-digit win seasons. The Lopes recorded 14 wins on their way to a WAC tournament title and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans won 12 matches, their most since the 2003 season.
PRESEASON POLLS
Grand Canyon and San José State have been voted as the 2026 preseason favorites to capture the inaugural Mountain West men's soccer regular-season title as voted on by the league's six head coaches.
Both programs earned 22 points each with GCU claiming four first-place votes and SJSU earning two first-place votes. The Lopes enter the 2026 season under the direction of first-year head coach Jamie Davies and ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Spartans are coming off a WAC championship match appearance in 2025 and earned 12 wins for the first time since 2003.
UC Davis was selected to finish the upcoming season in third place with 15 points, while UNLV was picked fourth with 14 points. Rounding out the poll is Air Force in fifth with 10 points and Utah Tech in sixth with seven points.
FALCONS TO WATCH
The Mountain West also announced the 2026 MW Men's Soccer Watch List, as selected by the Conference's head coaches, featuring three student-athletes from each program. Sophomores Tucker Kern and Quinn Muderlak, and senior Logan Zaa were selected as Air Force's players to watch.
Marcos Goni, a walk-on sophomore in 2025, led the team with three goals and an assist. Oliver Becker dished four assists with one goal in 17 appearances. Andrei Bulanko started in every game of 2025 and clocked 1,439 minutes of action. Attila Toth led the team with 13 shots on target as a sophomore. The Falcons will brandish a totally new goalkeeping unit with the starting goalie yet to be determined.
UP NEXT
Air Force will travel up the Hudson River to take on Marist in the second matchup of the opening week. The matchup in Poughkeepsie is slated for 7 pm ET at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field. The match will mark the second all-time meeting between the teams. The Red Foxes won the first meeting, 2-1, on September 14, 2007, played at West Point.
LAST SEASON IN A NUTSHELL
Head Coach Greg Dalby took the helm of a young Air Force men's soccer program in the summer of 2025, marking AF's final season with the Western Athletic Conference. The Falcons went 1-13-3 in Dalby's inaugural campaign, garnering two more positive results than the season prior. Air Force picked up its first and only win against a seasoned Mercer team at Cadet Soccer Stadium— the first time dawning the new U.S. Space Force kit. The Falcons had two positive results in a 2-2 tie with UC Riverside and a tie at one with South Dakota School of Mines.
Dalby brought along coaching veterans Clint Long and Christian Madrigal. Long, joining the Academy by way of Penn State where he served five years as assistant coach, helped lead the team to a Big Ten Regular Season title and its 15th Big Ten Tournament Final appearance in 2023. He helped coach four All-Big Ten honorees including Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Kris Shakes and Defender of the Year Femi Awodesu. He also coached Olympian Mohamed Cisset who represented Mali at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Madrigal joined staff by way of Loyola Marymount where he served six seasons as assistant coach. During his stint at LMU, Madrigal coached three MLS Super Draft picks in Jacob Jackson (GK), Noel Caliskan (MF), and Tyger Smalls (W), while also helping the Lions to a WCC title in 2020-21. In six seasons, Madrigal helped LMU three NCAA Tournament appearances (2019, 2020-21, 2023) highlighted by an Elite 8 run in 2023.
At the conclusion of the season, sophomore midfielder Andrei Bulankou earned Academic All-WAC honors. C4C Tucker Kern was named the team's MVP. An instrumental presence in the men's soccer midfield over the course of the entire season, Kern started in all 16 contests, clocking 1,370 minutes of playing time for fourth most on the team. He scored his first collegiate goal for matches into the season and took a personal best five shots against Navy.
FOLLOW ALONG
The 2026 season kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 20. Catch all the action on the pitch on MW+, the official streaming destination for Mountain West men's soccer. Stream every match live all season long on the web, the MW+ mobile app for iPhone and Android, or your connected TV, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Subscribe today at watch.themw.com.
Air Force (0-0) at Army West Point (0-0)
7:00 pm ET, Thursday, August 20
Malek Stadium at Clinton Field
A FRESH START
The Falcons open the 2026 campaign against service academy rival Army West Point, Thursday evening at Clinton Field. Air Force trails in the all-time series, 10-18-4, dating back to the first match in 1963. In the last 10 years, the teams are tied at three wins apiece. Army has won the last two meetings while the Falcons won the two prior. The last four matches have been decided by a one goal differential. The last time AF beat Army was in 2019, in West Point.
AT THE HELM
Greg Dalby enters his second season as the Air Force head coach in 2026. Dalby took the reins on January 13, 2025. Dalby came to the Academy via Oregon State, where he was the head coach for two seasons (2023, 2024). He led the Beavers to great success in his two seasons, accumulating a 21-11-8 overall record.
Oregon State went to the NCAA Tournament both years, including a run to the College Cup in 2023. The Beavers went 11-6-5 in Dalby's first season, with a run that included four NCAA Tournament victories before falling to Notre Dame in the national semifinals. Oregon State ended the season ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, the highest postseason mark in program history.
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Air Force announced juniors Oliver Becker and Andrei Bulankou, along with sophomore Tucker Kern, as team captains for the 2026 campaign. Becker and Bulankou were sophomore team captains in 2025. Kern follows in the footsteps of his oldest brother, Ben Kern, who was team captain of the AF men's soccer team in 2015. He is the third of three Kern brothers to play soccer at USAFA (Ben Kern '15, Will Kern '21).
A NEW HOME IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
The MW is the first NCAA Division I conference to add men's soccer since the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023 and the Sun Belt Conference's reinstatement in 2022. The first-ever MW men's soccer lineup features Air Force, Grand Canyon, San José State, UC Davis, UNLV and Utah Tech.
Grand Canyon and San José State are both coming off double-digit win seasons. The Lopes recorded 14 wins on their way to a WAC tournament title and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans won 12 matches, their most since the 2003 season.
PRESEASON POLLS
Grand Canyon and San José State have been voted as the 2026 preseason favorites to capture the inaugural Mountain West men's soccer regular-season title as voted on by the league's six head coaches.
Both programs earned 22 points each with GCU claiming four first-place votes and SJSU earning two first-place votes. The Lopes enter the 2026 season under the direction of first-year head coach Jamie Davies and ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Spartans are coming off a WAC championship match appearance in 2025 and earned 12 wins for the first time since 2003.
UC Davis was selected to finish the upcoming season in third place with 15 points, while UNLV was picked fourth with 14 points. Rounding out the poll is Air Force in fifth with 10 points and Utah Tech in sixth with seven points.
FALCONS TO WATCH
The Mountain West also announced the 2026 MW Men's Soccer Watch List, as selected by the Conference's head coaches, featuring three student-athletes from each program. Sophomores Tucker Kern and Quinn Muderlak, and senior Logan Zaa were selected as Air Force's players to watch.
Marcos Goni, a walk-on sophomore in 2025, led the team with three goals and an assist. Oliver Becker dished four assists with one goal in 17 appearances. Andrei Bulanko started in every game of 2025 and clocked 1,439 minutes of action. Attila Toth led the team with 13 shots on target as a sophomore. The Falcons will brandish a totally new goalkeeping unit with the starting goalie yet to be determined.
UP NEXT
Air Force will travel up the Hudson River to take on Marist in the second matchup of the opening week. The matchup in Poughkeepsie is slated for 7 pm ET at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field. The match will mark the second all-time meeting between the teams. The Red Foxes won the first meeting, 2-1, on September 14, 2007, played at West Point.
LAST SEASON IN A NUTSHELL
Head Coach Greg Dalby took the helm of a young Air Force men's soccer program in the summer of 2025, marking AF's final season with the Western Athletic Conference. The Falcons went 1-13-3 in Dalby's inaugural campaign, garnering two more positive results than the season prior. Air Force picked up its first and only win against a seasoned Mercer team at Cadet Soccer Stadium— the first time dawning the new U.S. Space Force kit. The Falcons had two positive results in a 2-2 tie with UC Riverside and a tie at one with South Dakota School of Mines.
Dalby brought along coaching veterans Clint Long and Christian Madrigal. Long, joining the Academy by way of Penn State where he served five years as assistant coach, helped lead the team to a Big Ten Regular Season title and its 15th Big Ten Tournament Final appearance in 2023. He helped coach four All-Big Ten honorees including Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Kris Shakes and Defender of the Year Femi Awodesu. He also coached Olympian Mohamed Cisset who represented Mali at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Madrigal joined staff by way of Loyola Marymount where he served six seasons as assistant coach. During his stint at LMU, Madrigal coached three MLS Super Draft picks in Jacob Jackson (GK), Noel Caliskan (MF), and Tyger Smalls (W), while also helping the Lions to a WCC title in 2020-21. In six seasons, Madrigal helped LMU three NCAA Tournament appearances (2019, 2020-21, 2023) highlighted by an Elite 8 run in 2023.
At the conclusion of the season, sophomore midfielder Andrei Bulankou earned Academic All-WAC honors. C4C Tucker Kern was named the team's MVP. An instrumental presence in the men's soccer midfield over the course of the entire season, Kern started in all 16 contests, clocking 1,370 minutes of playing time for fourth most on the team. He scored his first collegiate goal for matches into the season and took a personal best five shots against Navy.
FOLLOW ALONG
The 2026 season kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 20. Catch all the action on the pitch on MW+, the official streaming destination for Mountain West men's soccer. Stream every match live all season long on the web, the MW+ mobile app for iPhone and Android, or your connected TV, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Subscribe today at watch.themw.com.
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