I know this is the men's board, but since so few people seem to frequent the women's soccer board (where I cross-posted this), I thought people would indulge me if I posted about this on the men's board as well (at least in the Go WEST thread where it might be of interest).  Cal Lutheran, a school located west of Los Angles in Thousand Oaks, has made the NCAA Final Four for the first time in its history and is playing Tufts tomorrow.  It's a huge achievement for the working-class school that is by far the youngest of the final four participants and it's a testament to the strength of soccer in Region X (especially in Los Angeles, where Pomona-Pitzer has been strong on the women's side for years).  The LA Times ran a long story about the achievement:

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2023-11-28/cal-lutheran-womens-soccer-ncaa-tournament-rise

CLU, unranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches national top 25, faces Tufts (11-5-4) in the national semifinals in Salem, Va. And if the Regals get past that, they’ll face the winner of the other semifinal between second-ranked Washington University (17-1-3) and Messiah (21-2-0), a six-time Division III champion, in Saturday’s title game.

It wasn’t a fluke. At 18-1-5, this year’s team is the best in school history. The Regals outscored opponents 43-12 and posted 14 shutouts. The only loss was a 1-0 result against Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC tournament final, one they reversed in the second round of the NCAAs before upsetting unbeaten and top-ranked Christopher Newport University on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.

I also thought this quote from Cal Lu's head coach was a good summary of some of what DIII soccer offers, especially for women who have a lot more opportunities to go DI than men:

“What we’re seeing is Division I kids that have either started at a Division I and they’re not winning, they’re not playing a lot, they’re not enjoying their experience and they go, ‘I want to play and I want to win’,” said Marino, whose roster includes two Division I transfers. “A kid that comes here, legitimately we have a chance to win a national championship. For some kids, that’s more fun. And the environment is good. Players are supportive, they care about each other.”

USC All-Region X selections are out. 

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-NCAA-D3-Men-All-Region-Teams.pdf

Couple of observations:

1.  St. Thomas was finally punished for their behavior (and perhaps Texas Lutheran too)

Not a single St. Thomas player was selected. That can't just be a coincidence.  Taty Aleman had 17 goals in 16 games, which was the third highest in Region X this year and tied for 15th in the country.  Daniel Castro had 13 goals in 16 games, which was 7th in Region X and tied for 36th in the country.  Hard to believe neither would be among the 9 best forwards in Region X if their team and individual behavior weren't factored in to the equation. 

Texas Lutheran also only had two players selected and their GK Noel Pena was left out completely despite having a .41 GAA and a .864 save percentage, both of which are probably best in Region X.

I'm not disagreeing with any of these decisions, but noting that the coaches effectively did what the conferences and the NCAA did not.

2.  GK was a weak position in Region X

Surprised Seth Lawrence was voted top GK in Region X.  He's a good keeper, but neither his stats nor his performance this year smacked of first team all Region X.  I frankly think it was a down year for keepers in Region X, but the best keeper for my money was Colorado College's sophomore GK Jasper Broad, who had a lower GAA (.84 to 1.19) and a better save percentage (.804 to .733), while facing a ton more shots than Lawrence (203 v. 65).  Gaston was also better than Lawrence, with a .83 GAA and a .789 save percentage while facing 157 shots, but the competition he faced in the Northwest Conference was weaker than what Lawrence faced in the SCIAC and Broad faced in the SCAC.  Broad, however, didn't make any of the teams.  I think he was better than Pena for Texas Lutheran as well given the differences in their defenses and style of play (and, of course, Broad didn't lose his mind in a key moment of an important game).

3.  When was the last time Cal Tech had a first team All Region X player?

I have no idea, but I'm guessing never or a really long time.  Sophomore Etienne Casanova is the youngest member of the All Region X team and his importance to Cal Tech is far more than in the stats.  He was so crucial in moving that team forward and  in two years of play he's already only five goals short of tying the all-time Cal Tech career scoring record of 21 goals, which was set in 1967-1970.

First Team

Pos Name Class School Hometown
K Seth Lawrence Sr. University of Redlands Redlands, Calif.
D Skylar Darwen Sr. University of Redlands Los Angeles, Calif.
D Curtis Hale Jr. Colorado College Richmond, Va.
D Evan Karp Sr. Occidental College Portland, Ore.
M Jarette Barajas Sr. University of Redlands San Jose, Calif.
M Etienne Casanova So. California Institute of Technology San Jose, Calif.
M Craig Johnson Sr. Pacific Lutheran University Puyallup, Wash.
M Jack Manke Sr. Texas Lutheran University Houston, Texas
F Chen Adjei GR-5 Trinity University (Texas) Euless, Texas
F Michael Meese Jr. Trinity University (Texas) Williamsburg, Va.
F Andrew Notter Jr. Occidental College Truckee, Calif.

Second Team

Pos Name Class School Hometown
K Nick Gaston Sr. Pacific Lutheran University Mililani, Hawaii
D Pieter Blank GR-5 Trinity University (Texas) The Hague, Netherlands
D Tyler Sherard Sr. California Lutheran University Chula Vista, Calif.
D Alex White Sr. Pacific Lutheran University Henderson, Nev.
M Will Bavier Jr. Colorado College Cambridge, Mass.
M Louis Instrall Jr. Trinity University (Texas) London, England
M Joey Schwartz GR-5 Occidental College Highland Park, Ill.
M Sawyer Young Jr. University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Plano, Texas
F Cole Friesen Jr. Whitworth University Chula Vista, Calif.
F Ishaan Mantripragada So. California Institute of Technology Saratoga, Calif.
F Trevor Thompson Jr. Pacific Lutheran University Olympia, Wash.

Third Team

Pos Name Class School Hometown
K Riley Nyhan Jr. Occidental College Seattle, Wash.
D Max Beldner Sr. University of California Santa Cruz San Francisco, Calif.
D Cameron Burleson Jr. Concordia University (Texas) San Antonio, Texas
D Kayson Marriott Sr. University of Texas-Dallas Frisco, Texas
D Diego Roman Sr. Texas Lutheran University Houston, Texas
M Michael Grimm Jr. Southwestern University Southlake, Texas
M Spencer Palmer Sr. University of Redlands San Diego, Calif.
M Oliver Ramirez So. Colorado College Fort Collins, Colo.
F Alex Bethke So. University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Austin, Texas
F Theo Givens Sr. Concordia University (Texas) Austin, Texas
F Robby Guyer Sr. Pacific Lutheran University Ravensdale, Wash

Apart from Track and field I don't see and immediate impact on other sports, the two big revenue sports have minimal international students participating.

There are two different issues in this part of the thread.  The question for int'l students will be whether all athletes in DI sports are deemed employees, which is theoretically possible.  The question for DIII funding is whether the revenue sports break off from the NCAA.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

So we've talked about the influx of intl players into all levels.   I'm in the legal field, but not an expert in labor law. There is a case before the NLRB which may change NCAA soccer substantially. This is the article, but keep in mind there is no decision yet.

https://www.on3.com/nil/news/nil-potential-employee-model-could-dramatically-impact-international-college-athletes/

There's a scenario in this case where employee status does not extend to D3 athletics.  That actually could push the academic-minded, financially capable, int'l player from the D1s to the D3, or, alternatively, it could push the Ivy League (and many other D1 programs) to D3.  I don't think any of this is likely anytime soon, but it's interesting to consider the implications.

How about Washington Collage or St. Olaf? We've had no discussion about them!

I'm still peeved at Massey. W&L is ranked lower than four teams we beat.

I'll offer a few of my "probably only of interest to me" observations about Washington College, which seems to be the biggest underdog of the Final Four and therefore the most suitable for my kind of Region X-style posts.  Plus, there's an admirable Southern California angle to Washington College's coaching staff that is worth spotlighting given the, ahem, somewhat negative view on the Boards of the coaching staff of at least one of the other participants in this year's Final Four.

Washington College assistant coach Ryan Shera lived in the Southern California area prior to the pandemic, coaching youth soccer.  For awhile, he was the soccer director for Yalla Academy, which was a soccer, tutoring, and college program for refugee children that existed at the time in El Cajon, CA.  It was started by someone from Lebanon, but it served refugee kids from all over, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala, Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia, and the Philippines.  He got some national attention for his work there:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/20162547/yalla-non-profit-academy-el-cajon-supports-refugee-families-soccer

Incidentally, the last photo and description in the ESPN story is of a Sudanese refugee named Akuar Yamun, who Yalla's founder saw playing soccer in the park and encouraged his father to bring him to Yalla for soccer and tutoring to help him get a chance to go to college (his father was one of the "Lost Boys" from South Sudan who Akuar said walked 1,000 miles to Ethiopa to escape the Civil War).  In a feel good update on Akuar, he went on to play club at Nomads and just finished his freshman year as a 6'5" defender at San Diego City College in case anyone is looking for a community college transfer in a year or so - https://www.sdcityknights.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/roster; https://x.com/sdcityknights/status/1705455515722260529?s=20)

Here's an interview Shera did with a local station about the program (rocking a hairstyle that I'm sure his current players would love to see!).

https://www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2015/08/26/one-youth-soccer-league-san-diego-college-goal

Here's an interview that Shera did with Simple Coach (with a much more conservative hair style)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KymkA31Mzuk

It's also interesting to note that Head Coach Roy Dunshee and Asst Coach Shera both have law degrees.  Shera still practices law as well, serving as general counsel for his family's business.  I don't know if there are any other soccer programs in the country with two lawyers on the coaching staff.  It would be interesting to see what the player contracts in the Washington College program look like!

And, if you want to extend the Law connection further with Washington College, the team's leading scorer this year was Ben Strine.  Ben's brother James, a volunteer assistant coach on this year's team, was the co-leading scorer on the 2021 team that made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

https://www.washcoll.edu/live/news/strine-brothers.php

How does that relate to law?  Their father, Leo Strine, is the former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery (the most important business law court in the country because most public corporations are incorporated in Delaware) and the former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Amherst 1 Occidental 0

One of the Amherst Ultras described today’s weather in Western MA as, “balmy”, but I didn’t see many in attendance who weren’t dressed warmly.  The curator had done some wonderful work and TBTTIHF looked an absolute picture and of course, provided a super surface for a sweet sixteen epic.  Occidental didn’t just bring a big support, they brought noise (oh those vuvezelas – they ruined a world cup in South Africa) and most importantly a very good team.  The Tigers play with serious confidence and their keeper naturally drops the ball at his defender’s feet and they do their stuff.  I was curious how that would hold up in the face of what can be a rugged Mammoths press, but for much of the first half, it wasn’t quite as co-ordinated as I have seen it and Oxxy was able to bring the ball out without too much trouble.  That didn’t translate into many chances, but there was one very good save by the Amherst keeper and also one from the Tiger’s.  Net net, at half time, I would have thought the Oxxy coach would have been the happier as they had largely handled what the Mammoths had thrown at them.  From an Amherst perspective, the positive was that it was a clean sheet (that’s a central defender’s dad talking) and that the team could play better.  There were a couple of penalty claims from Amherst for which I couldn’t make an obvious case for, but it was just a reminder that the Mammoths have a number of players who are difficult to contain in the box.

That felt more relevant as Amherst started the second half with a more active press and more energy in general, but without an end product.  Occidental then proceeded to get back into the game and had a run of at least three consecutive corners, but the Mammoths defence held up pretty well and whilst there were nervous moments, that’s all they were.  Towards the end, Amherst had a couple of gilt-edged chances after some good quality set up play, but sadly, they weren’t converted.  With the game going into Operating Thetan time, there was always that fear that maybe those might come back to haunt.

Operating Thetan time seemed to pass very quickly and I was already mentally preparing myself for a penalty shoot out.  For those wondering what that involves, it’s basically me hiding under a blanket and hoping for the best.  Fortunately, with just four minutes to go in the second half of Operating Thetan time, the Amherst captain, keen to prolong his career for another day, found sufficient energy in his leg to propel a free kick to the other side of the penalty area.  It’s well documented that Amherst uses set pieces, EnmoreKitten was given something to work with and arrowed a header back in adjacent to the right hand post.  I woke up most of downtown (and probably uptown) Enmore with my shriek of delight.  Cue absolute mayhem and with a couple of minutes to see out, Amherst eventually moved on to the elite eight.

On balance, albeit one with a purple heart still pumping hard, I think Amherst deserved the win, but it must be said that Occidental  were excellent and their travelling band of supporters should feel justifiably proud of how the team played today.  I don’t think I have seen too many teams, NESCAC or otherwise, prepared to play the ball out from so deeply and whilst there are invariably some hairy moments attached to that, once past the first line, there was space to work with.  The Tigers didn’t seem to be phased by much at all and are a credit to all associated with them.

It goes without saying that my theme of Amherst “Efficiency” continues on and a sixth 1-0 win and a fifth clean sheet in seven tells you how difficult the white shirts are to beat.  At this stage of the season, aesthetics do go out of the window to a degree and it becomes about finding a way to win.  Whatever comes next, it’s one step further than last year, with the door open for more, but irrespective, this correspondent is very proud of what this group of young men has achieved.

All week I have been trying to work out how to put a reference from Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America” into this summary, but of course, “East California” is a long way away from Occidental.  I will keep working on it…

Foul Count: Amherst 13 Occidental 14

This is a very fair, even generous, description of the game, so I won't add much.  My preview said it would be an uphill climb for Oxy just based on the travel, the venue, and the time difference.  Losing on a late goal in 2OT could arguably be viewed as just a reflection of the accumulated weight of all of that more than obvious superiority of one team over another.  One bit of context for your remark that you were impressed that Occidental played out of the back against Amherst's press is that in Region X most good teams play out of the back.  Frankly, that's how most of the kids out west and in Texas grew up playing.  There are certainly kickball teams and youth clubs, but the stronger teams that produce college level soccer players play out of the back.  The weather helps with that because no one, at least in Socal, is playing very many games on fields with long, over-watered, grass. 

On the Oxy supporters, this was just a small taste of what their games are like with drums, vuvuzelas, cowbells, chanting etc for the whole game.  But instead of with a small hardy crew able to travel to Amherst, MA, imagine it with 2000 fans (not all with the noisemakers, of course, but they add to the noise level in their own way).  I've spoken with several coaches at multiple SCIAC schools and they all shake their head and admit they hate it, which means it's probably really effective.  I will say the atmosphere probably makes it more fun for students, which may be part of the reason they get more students to come to their games than most other schools.  I spoke to a SCIAC coach today who said what a lot of your post acknowledges - Oxy's performance helps to better establish the legitimacy of play in the SCIAC, at least beyond CMS and Redlands, so that is the victory that the team can bring home.

Did Skidmore HC Jeremiah Kneeland step down?  An opening for Head Coach, Men's Soccer at Skidmore was just posted yesterday on the NCAA board

https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/19416903/head-coach-men-s-soccer