(St George, UT - Aug. 12, 2026) – Utah Tech men's soccer was selected to finish 6th in the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, and have three players selected to the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Watchlist, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.

Utah Tech was slotted just behind Air Force, tallying 7 total points in the preseason poll. Grand Canyon and San Jose State both tied for the lead with 22 points, but the Lopes outnumbered the Spartans in first place votes, 4-2, to claim the honors of being the preseason favorite. 

Goalkeeper Luca Campoli, forward Samir Cuevas, and defender Tanner Dutra were selected to the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Watchlist. The watchlist is a culmination of three players from each school in the conference selected by coaches, who are expected to have good seasons. 

Campoli is coming off of a strong freshman campaign in 2025 where he made 12 appearances, with 11 of them coming as starts. Luca recorded 37 saves and recorded three wins, including two shutouts. Both shutouts recorded by Campoli came against now conference opponents in Air Force and UNLV. In the seven conference games Luca played in last season, he posted a 3-1-3 record while allowing just eight total goals.

Samir had a productive 2025 season when on the field for UT. In just six games, Cuevas recorded three assists and six shots on goal. This is the second year in a row that Cuevas has earned preseason recognition, as he was named to the Preseason All-WAC team in 2025. Samir enters his senior season at Utah Tech tied for seventh in game winning goals, with three.

Tanner Dutra was a solid contributor for the Trailblazers in 2025. Starting in all 17 games, he scored two goals and assisted once. Tanner played all 90 minutes in every game except one. Tanner led the team in minutes played a season ago (1,509) and helped the Trailblazers record four shutouts on the season. 

Utah Tech will open the 2026 regular season with a road match on Thursday, Aug. 20, at CSU Bakersfield. The Trailblazers open Mountain West play with a trip to Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 26. 

2026 MW MEN'S SOCCER WATCH LIST
Tucker Kern, So., MF, Air Force
Quinn Muderlak, So., MF, Air Force
Logan Zaa, Sr., F, Air Force
Beltran Fernandez, Sr., GK, Grand Canyon
Jorge Lopez, Sr., MF, Grand Canyon
Martin Luala, Sr., MF, Grand Canyon
Ronin Axelson, Sr., GK, San José State
Angel Fernandez, Sr., MF, San José State
Ruben Flores-Thomas, Sr., D, San José State
Nami Banks, So., D, UC Davis
Josh Gault, So., D, UC Davis
Rafael Matiello, Jr., MF, UC Davis
Bryce Allred, Sr., F, UNLV
Nick Legendre, Sr., F, UNLV
Manolo Vazquez, Jr., MF, UNLV
Luca Campoli, So., GK, Utah Tech
Sanir Cuevas, Jr., F, Utah Tech
Tanner Dutra, Jr., D, Utah Tech

2026 MW PRESEASON MEN'S SOCCER COACHES' POLL

Pl.        Team (1st place votes)                  Points
  1.           Grand Canyon (4)                         22
  1.           San José State (2)                         22
  3.          UC Davis                                           15
  4.          UNLV                                                   14
  5.          Air Force                                            10
  6.          Utah Tech                                         7