DAHLONEGA – The Peach Belt Conference announced the 2025 men's soccer preseason poll and preseason all-conference team Wednesday morning. The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's soccer team was picked to finish third in the league this year.

Leading the poll with nine first place votes was reigning PBC Tournament Champion Flagler who earned one first-place vote. The 2024 regular-season champion Clayton State (CSU) finished second in the voting with three first-place votes while the Nighthawks earned two first-place nods and landed in third place. Lander, Georgia Southwestern, USC Aiken and Middle Georgia all followed respectively.

On the PBC Preseason All-Conference Team were UNG junior Aram Lara and sophomores Maxwell Mitchell and Jorge Sandoval.

Last season, Lara dominated the midfield for the Nighthawks. In his second year in Dahlonega, Lara finished the campaign with a goal and two assists while leading the team to a second-place finish in the PBC standings for the first time since 2016. Lara went on to be named to the PBC All-Conference First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second Team.

Mitchell made a splash last season in his first campaign in a Nighthawk uniform. The freshman opened the year with two goals including the game winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Francis Marion in the first game of the season. The striker went on to score two more goals last season, tying the team lead for the year with four net finders. He eventually was named to the PBC All-Conference Second Team to end the year.

Sandoval was one of the biggest new names in college soccer last season. As a freshman, the 5-foot-7 forward terrorized offenses all season long. He tied the team lead with four goals on the year and led the squad with five assists. Sandoval was the only Nighthawk to record more than two helpers last season. He also had arguably the most impressive play of the season when he scored a game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds remaining against Flagler on an over-the-head, one-touch volley from nearly 30 yards away to cement a victory. 

Sandoval went on to be named the 2024 PBC Freshman of the Year, a PBC All-Conference First Team selection and a United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team member.

With their second-most wins in a season since 2017 and just the second ever second-place finish in the conference last season, the Nighthawks will look to make more history in 2025.