WASHINGTON (August 20, 2026) - The Howard University men's soccer team enters the 2026 season buoyed by the success of last season. The Bison won five games, the most since 2019, including three wins in NEC plays, yet another milestone.
 
Yet, Bison head coach Phillip Gyau, now entering his 12^th season at his alma mater, says that despite the success, there some hard lessons learned and he feels that the team will propel in its quest to make it to the conference tournament for the first time since joining the NEC in 2021.
 
"We were not as fit and conditioned entering the season," said Gyau. "It was especially true in the early part of our season. Then, over the second half of the season, we were in the shape to compete to win."
 
During a stretch in NEC play, the Bison won three-in-a-row and was in the running for the NEC tournament qualification. But it was more of disguise than a blessing as Howard came up short in their quest to make the conference tournament, dropping close matches down the crucial stretch.
 
"When we won three straight games, it was a bit too much for the players to handle," Gyau expressed. "They were walking around like they had achieved something. Those are the lessons that you learn when you are pursuing a championship. I am confident that it will serve as a lesson this season."
 
It will be a bit challenging for Gyau as he will start the season with some key players sitting due to minor injuries. But an even bigger task will be how to replace NEC Rookie of the Year Naim Robinson, who transferred to the University of Michigan.
 
"They saw him play and figured that he could help them," noted Gyau. "We wish him the best."
 
Despite the big loss, Howard has a number of key returning players who contributed to the season's measured success and learned from the experience.
 
They include junior forward Daniil Kaban (Kharkiv, Ukraine), who was named All-NEC Second Team after leading the team in total points (13), senior defender Nigel McCloud (Fayetteville, Ga.) and midfielders Zach Simmons (Rockwall, Texas) and Onarae Rice (Greenville, S.C.).
 
Rice had played sparingly as a reserve early in his career but came on strong last season as one the team's effective defenders.
 
"Last year's team was gritty and stayed the course," Rice recalled, a business management major who plans to be an athletics director. "We had always found a way to fight back and you could see it as the season progressed. Then, when we won three in a row, we sort of took a step back and had problems regaining the grit that had allowed us to finish games."
 
And what lesson has the team learned from the experience.
 
"We just need to keep the personality that we won three-in-a-row and finish games," Rice continued. "I like what I see so far. We have a lot of talent and I feel confident that the team learned from that experience."
 
Simmons also played a key role in the team's success, starting all 18 games and was fifth on the team in scoring.
 
"We want to take what we learned from last year and continue to improve as a team," said Simmons, a business management major. "We made some strides last year but the key is to put ourselves in a position to win a conference championship."
 
As an associate member of the NEC, a new policy has been encouraged with regard to scheduling. The teams are instructed to modify their schedules from playing Power 4 opponents to include more mid majors.
 
"We had to make some adjustments," Gyau explained. "We are now playing a level of competition that will put an emphasis on wins. We still play nationally ranked Duke and Virgina Tech, but we are playing them earlier than usual. We have been playing them during the conference schedule in the past, which proved to be a disadvantage for us."
 
The Bison open season in a nonconference matchup at the University of Delaware Thursday (Aug. 20) at 7 p.m.,  and will continue on a four-game road swing before the home opener Saturday (Sept. 12) at 1 p.m., at Greene Stadium.
 
The NEC Semifinals gets underway Thursday (Nov. 12), followed by the championship match Sunday (Nov. 15). Several matchups will be live streamed on various platforms. Check the website for times and listings.
 
We cannot talk about the soccer program without the in-classroom success under Gyau's tenure. His teams are always among the top academic program in the athletic department. Last year's team boasted 20 players who were named to the NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. Kaban and Simmons were among players selected.
 
"We take great pride in our academic achievements here at Howard," proclaimed Gyau. "We have students who are majoring in engineering, business and architecture, who have outstanding GPAs. We have a number of highly accomplished former players who visit and talk to the team. It serves as a tremendous motivator the student athletes. We are so proud of their achievements."
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.