SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - For the fifth time in seven seasons and the first time under Head Coach Jake Durham '20, '22M and Associate Head Coach Derek Pereira '20, '22M, the American International College men's soccer team reached the Northeast 10 Conference Championship Tournament, finishing the regular season seventh despite falling 2-1 to Saint Michael's College in the regular season finale on Wednesday, November 6.

AIC ends the regular season at 3-9-4 with a 2-6-1 NE10 record, good for seven points.

The Purple Knights struck first with the first half's only goal, as a takeaway sent Ronnie Riby-Williams ahead near the top of the box. He was able to find his team's leading scorer, Jack Andrews, who hit the net at 32:20.

Early in the second half, AIC equalized on a stunning goal by Oliver Nota. The rookie forward booted the ball toward the box from the right sideline, and it sailed over everyone, including the Purple Knights goalkeeper, into the net for his first of the season at 50:01.

Saint Michael's regained the lead at 65:13 as a turnover at the netfront to Mikel Penin allowed him to score into the low left corner with what turned out to be the decisive goal.

Javier Solá Martínez made five saves in the loss; AIC was outshot 7-4 despite a 5-3 corner kick advantage.

The Yellow Jackets now turn their attention toward postseason play; the team has made the NE10 Championship Tournament 11 times overall since it began in 1984, with its first appearance in 1999. More than half of those appearances have come since Durham and Pereira arrived on campus as student-athletes nine years ago. The duo participated as players in the 2016, 2018, and 2019 editions and as assistant coaches under Luke Perry in 2021 and 2023.

The tournaments in 2018 and 2019 saw AIC's first two postseason wins, with the Yellow Jackets knocking off then-national No. 15 Le Moyne College 2-1 and then-national No. 6 Adelphi University 3-2 in double overtime. Both times, AIC was the last team in and upended the top team in the conference, and in both cases Durham was critical, scoring the tying penalty kick goal against the Dolphins in 2018, and then netting the tying goal against the Panthers in regulation before a stunning bicycle kick tally in the 105th minute won the day in 2019. 

As coaches, Durham and Pereira were part of AIC's historic run in 2021 that saw the team reach its first-ever NE10 Championship Game thanks to wins over the University of New Haven and The College of Saint Rose; the team also made the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament for the first time ever that season, defeating Molloy University 4-0 in its first-ever NCAA Tournament contest. The 2023 NE10 Quarterfinal saw AIC play eventual national champion and then-national No. 1 Franklin Pierce to a scoreless draw despite playing nearly 25 minutes down a player. 

AIC's opponent, Southern New Hampshire University, is the NE10's second seed. The teams have only met once in the postseason, with a 2014 NE10 Quarterfinal matchup favoring the top-seeded and eventual champion Penmen 1-0. The Penmen won the regular-season meeting between the teams 2-1 at Abdow Field on September 27, with Simba Pelletier scoring AIC's goal and Martin Fuentes assisting on Southern New Hampshire's first before scoring the second-half winner in the 57th minute.