The Emory University men's soccer team reached historic heights during its 2025 campaign with the Eagles tying a program record with 16 victories and advancing to the national semifinals for the first time in program history.
On the strength of a returning veteran group with a pair of UAA championships over the previous two years mixed with the infusion of a strong selection of graduate transfers, the Eagles excelled on the season with an overall record of 16-2-4 and established a team record with 192 shots on goal.
Emory was led by five United Soccer Coaches All-Region performers including graduate transfer Ignacio Cubeddu who transformed the Eagles' offense in his debut season in Atlanta. Cubeddu, who was a fixture on the prominent Amherst College postseason runs in recent years, garnered All-America Third Team acclaim with Emory following a season that saw him lead the team in goals (12) and points (30) while setting Emory single-season records in shots attempted (110) and shots per game (5.24), becoming the first player to earn All-America status for the team since 2017.
To go along with Cubeddu, five different players recorded 13 or more points on the season highlighted by junior Lorenzo Avalos who scored eight goals along with one assist as he became the third straight Eagle to capture UAA Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Avalos and Cubeddu added All-UAA First Team honors and were among those chosen for All-Region recognition. Joining them on the All-Region list were junior Logan Steren and graduate student Danny Moya as well as senior Josh Grand, who was on a torrid pace with six goals and a team-high 10 assists through 11 games before a knee injury cut his season short. Head Coach Cory Greiner also picked up his first United Soccer Coaches Region VI Coach of the Year honor of his career.
The Eagles opened the season in dramatic fashion with Steren scoring the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute to upset No. 4 ranked Washington & Lee University. Emory used the theatrics in the opener to rip off a 10-game winning streak to become the third team in program history to start a season 10-0 or better. During the streak, the Eagles outscored opponents 38-4 and posted six shutouts.
The winning streak was halted with consecutive 1-1 draws on the road to Carnegie Mellon and No. 12 Brandeis before a 6-3 drubbing at home of NYU pushed the Eagles' record to 11-0-2 heading into the final home weekend of the year where Emory added another tie with No. 12 UChicago before suffering its first defeat of the season on October 26th to WashU, 1-0.
Following with the setback, the Eagles responded with road wins over Case Western Reserve and Rochester to close out the regular season and headed into the postseason with a record of 13-1-3.
The Eagles secured another bid to the NCAA tournament – the team's fifth in eight seasons under Coach Greiner – and embarked on a trip to Hampden-Sydney for the opening rounds. Emory put forth a pair of dominant wins to open its postseason run, taking down Maryville for the second time during the season before blanking the host HS-C Tigers, 3-0, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017's historic run.
Emory made its way back to Virginia the following weekend and came through with another thorough win, a 2-0 whitewash over Rowan University on the campus of the University of Lynchburg, before taking on Dickinson College for a spot in the national semifinals. The Eagles were battle-tested across 110 minutes as the two teams played to a scoreless draw, much in large part to junior Geoffrey Halpern's heroics where he saved six shots to preserve the shutout. With the score deadlocked at 0-0, the contest went to penalty kicks to decide a winner. The Eagles saw four successful kicks during the shootout with none looming larger than Cubeddu's successful conversion that clinched the win to send Emory onto its first-ever NCAA Final Four.
With a spot in the national championship game on the line, the Eagles were pitted against Trinity University (TX) at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Virginia. Emory went back to overtime for the second straight game as the Eagles and Tigers played 90 minutes of scoreless soccer. However, just three minutes into the extra session, Trinity's Samuel Theiss slotted a shot into the near post to send the Tigers onto the national championship.
In addition to the season-long awards, Cubeddu and Steren landed spots on the NCAA All-Tournament Team while junior captain Michael Constant became the third student-athlete in Emory history to be the recipient of the Elite-Scholar Award which recognizes the top grade point average of a student-athlete at the national championship site.
The Eagles earned the following awards in the 2025 season.
