RICHMOND, VA. – VCU men's soccer defender Moussa Ndiaye added two more accolades to the outstanding resumé he has built on the Rams' back line. The senior appeared in TopDrawerSoccer's preseason player rankings at No. 18 in the country and landed on the Preseason Best XI Second Team.
 
Each of the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI teams included three defenders and just four defenders rank above Ndiaye in the preseason release—Casper Svendby (Pitt), Luca Nikolai (North Carolina), Nick Dang (Virginia) and Kamran Acito (Duke). The nod comes less than a week after Ndiaye was tabbed to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference team for the second consecutive year.
 
Ndiaye is the second-highest ranked player in the Atlantic 10, behind Fordham midfielder Daniel D'Ippolito, who sits at No. 2. The complete TDS rankings are available here and the preseason awards can be viewed here.
 
The Dakar, Senegal, native won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship with VCU in 2023, earning first-team A-10 All-Conference honors, and was named VaSID Defensive Player of the Year last season and USL League Two Defender of the Year this summer.
 
A staple of the Rams' defense, Ndiaye looks to continue his consistent impact in his fourth year in Black & Gold. He was second in minutes played by just 10 minutes last season, starting all 17 matches and collecting a goal.
 
VCU opens its season at Sports Backers Stadium on Thursday, August 21, against No. 21 Akron. Last year, the Rams opened their season with a ranked victory at No. 15 Wake Forest.
 
For the complete 2025 VCU men's soccer schedule, visit this link.