Ohio State’s men’s soccer team has made the transfer portal a larger part of its roster strategy, adding seven transfers for the 2026 season after bringing in only one two years earlier. The newcomers have produced nearly 62% of the Buckeyes’ goals, according to The Lantern.
The change reflects a broader adjustment in college soccer, where programs are working with smaller rosters and can use the portal to add players with college experience and established statistics. Ohio State Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Matt Foldesy said those records give coaches information that is unavailable when evaluating a high school recruit.
“There is a comfort to a transfer, to be able to immediately compete because you can evaluate it at a level that you know and you’re comfortable with. And you have season stats.” — Matt Foldesy
Transfers have supplied much of the offense
Senior forward Isaiah Chisolm, who transferred from Kentucky, scored seven goals in five games before suffering an injury. Junior defender Martin Wurschmidt, an Evansville transfer, has added five goals.
The team’s recruiting approach also includes younger players developing alongside more experienced additions. Freshman midfielder Jack Wayne has started eight games and recorded one goal and three assists. Wayne said working with the transfers has influenced the team’s training environment.
“The transfers, especially just because they’re mostly upperclassmen, it helps raise the standard at training.” — Jack Wayne
Ohio State’s shift comes after NCAA Division I men’s soccer rules introduced in 2025 for programs participating in the House settlement. Those rules generally set a 28-player roster limit while removing previous scholarship limits, allowing schools to provide more athletic scholarships.
The roster changes affect how coaches balance immediate production with player development. Don Williams, a former college soccer coach and recruiting specialist with Sports Recruiting USA, said some programs previously carried more than 30 players. That gave coaches additional room to develop freshmen who might need one or two seasons before becoming regular contributors.
For Ohio State, the 2026 roster shows how the portal can provide players ready to compete while freshmen remain part of the program’s lineup and training group. Chisolm’s early scoring, Wurschmidt’s production and Wayne’s starts account for different parts of that approach as the Buckeyes navigate the new roster structure.
