In head coach Zach Samol’s third season at the helm, American University men’s soccer made it back to the Patriot League championship game for the second straight season. The Eagles finished the season 9-5-4, including 6-2-1 in conference play and 5-1-2 at Reeves Field. AU’s conference mark was its best since finishing the 2016 season 7-1-1. 

Four Eagles earned All-Patriot League selections in 2021, including the first two players (David Coly and Nicolas Blassou) to be recognized as First Team All-PL since 2016. Evan Schweickert and Zemi Rodriguez were named Third Team All-Patriot League. Rodriguez is the first AU men's soccer freshman to be named to an All-Patriot League team since AU joined the conference in 2001.

Coly finished the season with eight goals and five assists. Eight goals in a season is the most for an AU player since Andrew Herman tallied 11 in 2002. Additionally, his 21 points are the highest total since Liam Robley also had 21 in 2015. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-Atlantic Region. 

Blassou was also named All-Atlantic Region, gracing the Second Team in 2021. Blassou was a fixture on the backline, leading a defense which ranked third in the conference with a 1.17 GAA during the regular season. For his performance during the Patriot League Tournament, he earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

Jack Green earned a spot on the 11-member Academic All-Patriot League Team for his efforts on the pitch and in the classroom. He scored three goals and had three assists on the season. He was also one of 10 players to be named to the PL Academic Honor Roll. 

The 2021 campaign started with an impressive 2-1 victory over Old Dominion in front of a raucous crowd of 1,103 fans. The day began with a banner unveiling ceremony for the spring Patriot League championship team. 

The rest of the non-conference slate was challenging for the Eagles as AU entered the last week of September with a 1-3-2 record after tough losses to Santa Clara and Penn State. 

Dominic Dominguez started his first career game at goalkeeper against Lehigh on Sept. 25 and promptly recorded four saves and a blank sheet in a 2-0 win. He was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for his work between the pipes. This win set up AU for a strong October run to the finish line.

The most dramatic win of that stretch run came at Lafayette on Oct. 23. With four seconds left in overtime, Mattias Cooper fired a shot that was blocked by the Lafayette GK but Green was there for the rebound to put the ball in the back of the net for the victory. Green was named Patriot League Midfielder of the Week after the win while Rodriguez was named Rookie of the Week after scoring 47 seconds into the game. 

Green scored two goals against Colgate the following week and was named Midfielder of the Week for the second week in a row. Green became the first Patriot League player to earn the honor in back-to-back weeks since Midfielder of the Week was first awarded by the PL in 2016.

The Eagles closed the regular season with a 3-1 win over Navy before thumping the Mids 4-2 less than a week later in the Patriot League semifinals. 

AU’s season ended at Loyola Maryland in the Patriot League Championship. The Greyhounds scored a free-kick goal in the 83rd minute to oust American. Nicolas Blassou, David Coly, and Mattias Cooper were named to the All-Patriot League Tournament Team.

The Eagles will lose a senior class that helped bring Coach Samol’s program back to the top of the Patriot League. But the future remains bright for the Eagles as they will be led by an experienced group of upperclassmen all across the field.