With less than a week until the regular season opener against Wake FC on May 20, there’s no time like the present to introduce this 2026 Salem City FC squad. Featuring six returners: Tate Lorentz, Guilherme Fontes, Raul Canas, Henri Poll, Mikey Hernandez, and Kevin Stanton, this squad aims to take their third straight South Atlantic Division title. With three players from the 2025 NCAA Mens Soccer College Cup, high expectations are nothing new for this team.  

However, the inclusion of four new teams to the division: Hickory FC, Appalachian FC, Asheville City, and Port City, guarantees a competitive regular season in an already challenging league. Hickory FC comes into the USL League Two after a historic 2025 campaign in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), claiming the national championship title over El Farolito. This transition comes in the midst of the leagues battle to become the premier pre-professional league in the country. With 158 clubs across 20 divisions and four conferences, the USL 2 is poised to take top honors this year. Within the 2026 MLS Superdraft, the USL League Two accounted for over 75% of the draft picks, including our very own Tate Lorentz with the 63rd pick in the third round.  

Tate Lorentz, returns to us from Wake Forest, along with three of his teammates: Robert Jeffery White, Joel Torbic, and Travis Smith Jr. This homegrown player produced six goals, five assists, and 17 total points for the Demon Deacons over his 2025 junior campaign. Both Smith Jr. and Lorentz produced breakout 2025 campaigns with Top Drawer Mens Midseason College Soccer Rankings of 88th and 94th respectively. Torbic is also no stranger to Salem City FC as he comes to us from Lionsbridge FC, who defeated our 2025 squad in the first round of playoffs.  

With players from across the world and different collegiate teams, communication is key to make this team successful. However, several boys come to us from the same NCAA programs, which will certainly help with on-field chemistry and consistency of play. Poll and Sean Bohan both come out of Hofstra, a successful 2025 team that made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to Furman University in a penalty shootout. Caleb Frakes and Joe Taylor also made NCAA College Tournament appearances with Elon University. Three other collegiate programs bring strong pairs with Raul Canas and Aaron Garrote from Lenoir- Rhyne University, Takumi Sato and Joao Catafesta from Lubock Christian and Noah Vasilez and Fynn Mewes from Roosevelt University.  

The squad is slated to contest 14 regular season matches, with their first home match scheduled for May 23 at 7:00pm. Head coach William Lennie is a strong believer in free-flowing, positional play; allowing for players to express themselves on and off the field. Over the 14 regular season games, you can expect to see an aggressive and high pressing team with five players across the front line. Lennie believes in giving his players room to be creative and understand their own style of play.  

Lennie’s coaching philosophy is directly reflected in Salem City FC’s booming youth programming. Within the Salem City Academy, decisions are made with the player’s best interests in mind, with a priority of creating continuity throughout coaches and core values across age groups and talent levels. Lennie places an emphasis on maintaining the player’s mental health and avoiding burnout within the academy system. Despite this being Lennie’s first year as head coach, he has served as assistant coach since 2025 and accumulated over five years of coaching experience across numerous continents. In a program built on trust, Lennie looks to lead Salem City FC to another strong playoff showing.  

With high expectations of claiming a third straight South Atlantic Division championship title and securing an automatic qualifier into the playoffs, this squad is already deep in training. However this team is about much more than just their on-field aspirations. Now practicing at Calvary Day School and playing their home matches at Reynolds Stadium, Salem City FC is now a completely local team to Winston-Salem!   

Tickets are now on sale for the seven home matches at salemcityfc.com. With food trucks, VIP seating, and fan shops; these home fixtures are set to be real community events. We can’t wait to see you there!