HOOKSETT, New Hampshire - The second-seeded American International College men's soccer team lost 3-0 in the 2026 Northeast 10 Conference Championship Game to top-seeded and No. 8-ranked nationally Southern New Hampshire University.
AIC is now 10-6-4 on the season.
The Penmen controlled the game for most of the first half, but AIC nearly escaped scoreless. In the 42nd minute, however, Gabriel Castro fired a cross low through the box from right-to-left for Inigo Iriarte to tap in at the left post, giving the Penmen a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second, the home lead doubled. Alex Pons set up Miguel Gimeno in the 55th minute for a strike that hit the twine.
AIC pushed hard, and generated several quality chances, but the Penmen put the game away in the 88th minute as Pons set up Castro for a breakaway goal for the 3-0 final.
AIC was outshot 15-5; Javier Sola Martinez made 12 stops in the setback.
Paul Espinoza and
Marc Tasies Minguell each earned spots on the conference's All-Championship team, becoming the first AIC duo since Dirk Doppen and Salim Yussif in 2021 and fifth and sixth ever; AIC's first-ever such honoree was Steven Hernandez in 2018, while now-Head Coach
Jake Durham earned a spot in 2019.
AIC will now await the NCAA Tournament selections to see if the team qualified for the national championship. That will be held Monday, November 9 at 6:30 p.m.
