Two Minutemen Earn Academic All-League Honors

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts men's soccer senior midfielder Matt Cence and junior defender Shane Velez landed on the Academic All-League Team, as announced by the Summit League.

Cence, a Building and Construction Technology major, started in 15 of 17 games played this season, accumulating 1,420 minutes on the pitch. The senior tallied 16 points on five goals and six assists, while scoring the game-winning goal in the 2-1 win over Denver. He produced 46 shots, placing 20 on frame.

In the conference, Cence ranks third in assists with six, seventh in points with 16 and 10^th in goals with five. He ranks fourth in both shots (46) and shots on goal (20).

Cence was also selected to the First Team All-League and the College Sports Communicator's Academic All-District Team.

Velez, a Mechanical Engineering major, competed in 17 games, earning the start in 15, and accumulating 1,305 minutes on the pitch. The Perkasie, Pennsylvania, native tallied nine points on three goals and three assists. Velez had 33 shots with 12 on goal. He scored the game-winning goal in a 5-2 win over Quinnipiac.

In the league, Velez sits seventh in total shots with 33, averaging 1.94 per game.

2025 Summit League Men's Soccer Academic All-League Team
Matt Cence – Massachusetts | Senior | Midfielder
Wesley Cribb – Kansas City | Sophomore | Defender
Miguel Fernandez** – Kansas City | Junior | Midfielder
Bryson Gosch** – Kansas City | Junior | Defender
Joao Mesquita – Oral Roberts | Graduate Student | Goalkeeper
Isaac Nehme – Denver | Senior | Goalkeeper
Jan Schroeder – Delaware | Junior | Defender
Aidan Semelsberger** – Denver | Senior | Midfielder
Jake Smith*** – Denver | Graduate Student | Midfielder
Marius Stenner – Delaware | Sophomore | Forward
Shane Velez – Massachusetts | Senior | Defender

*Career Academic All-League honors

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Players Mentioned

Matt Cence

Shane Velez

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics