Trinity (CT)

After a 2-13 season last year, including an 0-10 record in the NESCAC, and an 8-32-8 record as Trinity's head coach Methembe Ndlovu is entering his 4th season in the program, the Bantams are likely desperate to get some wins, if for nothing else so Ndlovu can buy some patience with the AD and with recruits.  NESCAC's schedule and limited non-conference opportunities make that difficult though.  This year, they drop Western Connecticut and St. John's Fisher (one of their two wins last season) and add University of Saint Joseph (CT) (which qualified for the NCAAs and lost to Wesleyan 2-0 in the first round) and Eastern Connecticut State (which tied Wesleyan 0-0 last season, but otherwise didn't have a great season).  Trinity better hope that Patrick Ageymang's success with the USMNT hasn't led to immediate recruiting gains for Eastern Conn. St. or Trinity's record may end up even worse this year.  Other bottom half NESCAC schools probably hope that doesn't happen either because they don't have as much wiggle room for dropping bad wins under the NPI given their non-conference schedules and middling records against NESCAC teams.

Some of the SCIAC schools' recruiting classes are coming out.  Here is what I have thus far:

Occidental

Enzo Bernales F/M Ballistic United MLS Next (Piedmont, CA)
Joshua Lang Wingback Silicon Valley Soccer Academy MLS Next (Union City, CA)
Torben Kroeger CB De Anza Force MLS Next (Mountain View, CA)
Noah Armour F Concorde Fire ECNL (Atlanta, GA)

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Sean Lee MF San Jose Earthquakes MLS Next (Taipei, Taiwan/Burlingame, CA)
Taishu Liu D MVLA ECNL (Palo Alto, CA)
Nicolas McKee MF Achilles FC (Washington, DC)
Atticus English D SF Elite (San Francisco, CA)
Daniel Zhu M Crossfire ECNL (Redmond, WA)
Clayton Thomas F Colorado Rapids ECNL (Denver, CO)
Leica Yasukawa M San Diego Surf ECNL (San Diego, CA)
Niall Connor M SF Glens MLS Next (San Francisco, CA)
Tomas Bellatin M Miami Strikers FC (Miami, FL)
Paxton Greene F Real Colorado ECNL (Cherry Creek, CO)
Penn Kaplan MF Silicon Valley Soccer Academy MLS Next (Los Altos, CA)

Pomona-Pitzer

Townes Richardson CB/CM Rio Rapids SC ECNL (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Elias Inouye D Hawaii United (Honolulu, HI)
Sebastian Lee Jara D Manhattan SC (Manhattan, NY)
Jiha Choi Wing Laguna United SC EAL (Seoul, South Korea/Laguna, CA)
Andy Xiao M Gretna Elite Academy ECNL (Omaha, Nebraska)
Metolius Halloran-Steiner D Westside Metros FC ECNL (McMinnville, Oregon)

Whittier

Jake Marks GK Columbia College (London, England)
Elijah Sutherland F Legends FC San Diego (San Diego, CA )
Carlos Rivera CB College of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas, NV)
Diego Soberanis ACM College of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas, NV)
Niles Lindfors LW Karlbergs BK P19(Stockholm, Sweden)
Connor Gilmore LB Santa Monica College (Los Angeles, CA)
Fabian Gluch LW Baerum (Oslo, Norway)
Emil Olsen Wingback Vebinge FF (Trelleborg, Sweden)
Jaime Eijpen CB Irvine Valley College (Irvine, CA)
Guillermo Ramirez Winger California Odyssey ECNL (Ripon, CA)
Jack Born DM FK Bromma (Stockholm, Sweden)

Chapman

Otto Richter GK Seattle United ECNL (Edmonds, WA)
Rhys Lindhorst GK PAC NW ECNL (Seattle, WA)
Enzo Lopes F LA Breakers ECNL (Pacific Palisades, CA)
Oliver Adams F Mustang ECNL (Berkeley, CA)
Noah Pederson D Marin ECNL (Mill Valley, CA)
Dane Price M Wash. Premier ECNL (Tacoma, WA)
Kobe Lee Slammers ECNL (Rosemead, CA)
Austin Hall D Colorado Rapids ECNL (Centennial, CO)
Kirby Winfield D Seattle United ECNL (Seattle, WA)

Cal Tech

Justin Wu D Brausa United (Ellicott City, MD)
Kyler Williams M North Carolina Fusion ECNL (Blacksburg, VA)
Gavin Slocum M Tallahassee SC ECNL (Tallahassee, FL)
Ziad Siala D Breakers MLS Next (Sunnyvale, CA)
Aritz Schube Barriola D FC Westchester MLS Next (Mamaroneck, NY)
Erik Ledvina D Hoover-Vestavia MLS Next 2 (Vestavia Hills, AL)

Redlands

Josh Edelstein Wingback Legends FC San Diego ECNL (San Diego, CA)

Not sure this is the right forum for this, but just thought people would want to know that Trinity (TX) University Offensive Coordinator Wade Lytal posted on X that his daughter is one of the kids missing from Camp Mystic after the floods.

Heartbreaking

Quote from: IC798891 on July 03, 2025, 10:49:39 AMThings do not look good for Utica right now

https://www.wktv.com/news/utica-university-will-cut-5-million-from-annual-faculty-budget/article_4e212e7d-2749-437c-94e2-1e1e857eafec.html

Sounds like Athletics cuts could be next

QuoteThe university said it has "already taken steps to reduce costs from non-faculty staff, and it is reviewing both athletic programs and non-campus facilities for potential cost savings."

Cross-posted from the 2025 Schedules thread

Some schedules from the Northwest Conference

George Fox

George Fox finished a historic season last year at 14-5-1. Not only was it a major reversal from the prior two years when they finished 5-11-4, but it's the first winning season for the program since at least 2005 (the online records only go back to 2006).  It included a cross-country trip with wins against Emmanuel and Emerson as well as rare wins against Willamette, Whitman, and Whitworth.  This year, they drop Warner Pacific and add NAIA sides Oregon Tech and Bushnell and DIII Whittier from the SCIAC as they try to build upon their success.  They only lose one regular starter from last year's squad as far as I can tell, so they may be a darkhorse in the NWC.

Pacific

Pacific drops Multnomah and Evergreen State and adds La Verne on a trip through California where they play UC Santa Cruz the day before.

Some schedules from the Northwest Conference

George Fox

George Fox finished a historic season last year at 14-5-1. Not only was it a major reversal from the prior two years when they finished 5-11-4, but it's the first winning season for the program since at least 2005 (the online records only go back to 2006).  It included a cross-country trip with wins against Emmanuel and Emerson as well as rare wins against Willamette, Whitman, and Whitworth.  This year, they drop Warner Pacific and add NAIA sides Oregon Tech and Bushnell and DIII Whittier from the SCIAC as they try to build upon their success.  They only lose one regular starter from last year's squad as far as I can tell, so they may be a darkhorse in the NWC.

Pacific

Pacific drops Multnomah and Evergreen State and adds La Verne on a trip through California where they play UC Santa Cruz the day before.

[Cross-posted from the 2025 Coaching Carousel thread]

Lewis & Clark promotes Fraser Morrison to head men's soccer coach

This is something I have been calling for since the program was created.  Instead of hiring a men's coach when they started the team in 2022, they just asked the women's coach, Jim Tursi, to coach both the men's and women's teams. He has continued to do so for the first three years.  That clearly wasn't working.  Lewis & Clark has a record of 0-46-1 in the past three years, their recruiting has been very poor, and when they happened to stumble upon a halfway decent player, they transferred or left the program after one year.  That's as big an indictment of how a program is run that you can find.  The dual coaching arrangement seemed to be a disservice to both programs.  So, although I have no idea whether Morrison is the right person for the job after being with the program all three years, I'm glad that they finally created a structure where someone can take ownership of and be fully accountable for the men's program.

QuoteLewis & Clark College Director of Physical Education & Athletics Mark Pietrok announced the promotion of Fraser Morrison to men's soccer head coach on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Morrison, who has worked as an assistant with the program for the past three years, will lead the men's program and continue to work with Director of Soccer Jim Tursi for this upcoming season. Tursi will also continue on his role as the women's soccer head coach.
 
"I'm very excited to see Fraser move into this larger role," Pietrok stated. "He has been with our men's program since it's inception and this will give both of our programs a better chance to grow and be successful. Fraser has over 25 years of coaching experience and tremendous connections throughout the Pacific Northwest at the high school and club level."
 
Over the past three seasons, Morrison has worked his way up and served as the lead assistant for Lewis & Clark's new varsity soccer program in 2024. With each season, the Pioneers have proven to be more competitive, as they work to establish themselves in the Northwest Conference and Pacific Northwest.
 
"I am honored and delighted to be named the head men's soccer coach at Lewis & Clark College," Morrison said. "I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the administration for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity.
 
It is important to me to recognize Jim Tursi, our director of soccer, for his mentorship and support over the past three seasons. It has been a privilege to work with him, and I look forward to continuing to push the program forward, building on the strong foundation laid by Jim."
 
Morrison is a native of London and he played at the University of Luton. In his final year of college, he began his coaching career by serving as a Football in the Community Coach for West Ham United and a Center of Excellence Girls Coach for Barnet Football Club.
 
"Moving forth, I'm excited for the seasons ahead and helping our student-athletes grow both on-and-off the field, as we continue to develop and strengthen the program," Morrison noted.
 
After moving to the US in 2000, he worked with the Oregon United Soccer Academy (Director of Youth Development), US Soccer Youth Region IV (Region IV Staff Coach) and the Oregon Olympic Development Program (Girls 1992 ODP Head Coach).
 
He was named head coach of the Lake Oswego High School boys varsity team in 2005 and led the Lakers for nearly 20 years. Morrison led the program to the playoffs in eight of his final nine seasons, including a trip to the State Semifinals in his final year (2023).
 
At the club level, he has worked as the Director of Coaching at the Lake Oswego Soccer Club since 2004 and served in the same role for Oregon Premier FC since 2008. In his roles, he oversees programs for well over 2,000 soccer players in the state of Oregon and helps develop players of all ages and skill levels.

Lewis & Clark promotes Fraser Morrison to head men's soccer coach

Instead of hiring a men's coach when they started the team in 2022, they just asked the women's coach, Jim Tursi, to coach both the men's and women's teams. He has continued to do so for the first three years.  That clearly wasn't working.  Lewis & Clark has a record of 0-46-1 in the past three years, their recruiting has been very poor, and when they happened to stumble upon a halfway decent player, they transferred or left the program after one year.  That's as big an indictment of how a program is run that you can find.  The dual coaching arrangement seemed to be a disservice to both programs.  So, although I have no idea whether Morrison is the right person for the job after being with the program all three years, I'm glad that they finally created a structure where someone can take ownership of and be fully accountable for the men's program.

QuoteLewis & Clark College Director of Physical Education & Athletics Mark Pietrok announced the promotion of Fraser Morrison to men's soccer head coach on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Morrison, who has worked as an assistant with the program for the past three years, will lead the men's program and continue to work with Director of Soccer Jim Tursi for this upcoming season. Tursi will also continue on his role as the women's soccer head coach.
 
"I'm very excited to see Fraser move into this larger role," Pietrok stated. "He has been with our men's program since it's inception and this will give both of our programs a better chance to grow and be successful. Fraser has over 25 years of coaching experience and tremendous connections throughout the Pacific Northwest at the high school and club level."
 
Over the past three seasons, Morrison has worked his way up and served as the lead assistant for Lewis & Clark's new varsity soccer program in 2024. With each season, the Pioneers have proven to be more competitive, as they work to establish themselves in the Northwest Conference and Pacific Northwest.
 
"I am honored and delighted to be named the head men's soccer coach at Lewis & Clark College," Morrison said. "I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the administration for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity.
 
It is important to me to recognize Jim Tursi, our director of soccer, for his mentorship and support over the past three seasons. It has been a privilege to work with him, and I look forward to continuing to push the program forward, building on the strong foundation laid by Jim."
 
Morrison is a native of London and he played at the University of Luton. In his final year of college, he began his coaching career by serving as a Football in the Community Coach for West Ham United and a Center of Excellence Girls Coach for Barnet Football Club.
 
"Moving forth, I'm excited for the seasons ahead and helping our student-athletes grow both on-and-off the field, as we continue to develop and strengthen the program," Morrison noted.
 
After moving to the US in 2000, he worked with the Oregon United Soccer Academy (Director of Youth Development), US Soccer Youth Region IV (Region IV Staff Coach) and the Oregon Olympic Development Program (Girls 1992 ODP Head Coach).
 
He was named head coach of the Lake Oswego High School boys varsity team in 2005 and led the Lakers for nearly 20 years. Morrison led the program to the playoffs in eight of his final nine seasons, including a trip to the State Semifinals in his final year (2023).
 
At the club level, he has worked as the Director of Coaching at the Lake Oswego Soccer Club since 2004 and served in the same role for Oregon Premier FC since 2008. In his roles, he oversees programs for well over 2,000 soccer players in the state of Oregon and helps develop players of all ages and skill levels.

Cross-posted from the 2025 schedules thread

A few schedules from Lone Star State schools in the SCAC

Concordia (TX)

After traveling to Virginia last season and getting a tie and a win against Christopher Newport and Virginia Wesleyan, they stay local this year, playing four teams from its former conference, the ASC (Howard Payne, Hardin-Simmons, Mary Hardin-Baylor, and East Texas Baptist) and two former teams from its current conference, the SCAC (Trinity and Southwestern).  Concordia has been bringing in a lot of strong recruits from Texas schools and they may need them early because they are losing their top two scorers, several of their starting defenders and midfielders, and their starting goalkeeper.

University of St. Thomas

St. Thomas had a down year last year, relatively speaking, but they still managed to get to the SCAC tournament and beat Colorado College 2-0 in the semis before losing to old nemesis Trinity in the finals.  They didn't have a down year from the perspective of cards, though, despite the new coaching staff, receiving 60 yellow cards and 7 reds.  This only reinforced UST's reputation as the bad boys of the conference.  By contrast, Colorado Colleges numbers were 23/2, Trinity's were 34/2, Concordia's were 43/2, Texas Lutheran's were 20/1, Southwestern's were 30/1, McMurry's were 21/1, Centenary's were 27/1, Ozarks were 39/2, and Austin College's were 30/2.  Trinity and Southwestern's players may have been glad to have moved on from playing the Celts, but their coaches had other ideas, as UST starts the season playing at Southwestern and Trinity.  They then host Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor, so UST isn't using its schedule to pad its record.  They also play two NAIA teams from the Red River Conference - North American and Houston-Victoria.  They actually play North American twice - once in a preseason scrimmage and a second team in the regular season, which is fairly unusual.

Texas Lutheran

As with the other top teams left in the SCAC, TLU plays Southwestern and Trinity as well as the top ASC teams Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor.  The most interesting opponent is Marymount (VA), which is visiting Texas on the second weekend of the season.  Marymount is pretty ambitious in its out-of-state travel, going to SoCal two years ago to play Occidental and Cal Lutheran.  This year, they are playing Schreiner as well on their trip to the Texas Hill Country.  This is a rebuilding year for TLU, which lost most of its regular starters to graduation from last season.

A few schedules from Lone Star State schools in the SCAC

Concordia (TX)

After traveling to Virginia last season and getting a tie and a win against Christopher Newport and Virginia Wesleyan, they stay local this year, playing four teams from its former conference, the ASC (Howard Payne, Hardin-Simmons, Mary Hardin-Baylor, and East Texas Baptist) and two former teams from its current conference, the SCAC (Trinity and Southwestern).  Concordia has been bringing in a lot of strong recruits from Texas schools and they may need them early because they are losing their top two scorers, several of their starting defenders and midfielders, and their starting goalkeeper.

University of St. Thomas

St. Thomas had a down year last year, relatively speaking, but they still managed to get to the SCAC tournament and beat Colorado College 2-0 in the semis before losing to old nemesis Trinity in the finals.  They didn't have a down year from the perspective of cards, though, despite the new coaching staff, receiving 60 yellow cards and 7 reds.  This only reinforced UST's reputation as the bad boys of the conference.  By contrast, Colorado Colleges numbers were 23/2, Trinity's were 34/2, Concordia's were 43/2, Texas Lutheran's were 20/1, Southwestern's were 30/1, McMurry's were 21/1, Centenary's were 27/1, Ozarks were 39/2, and Austin College's were 30/2.  Trinity and Southwestern's players may have been glad to have moved on from playing the Celts, but their coaches had other ideas, as UST starts the season playing at Southwestern and Trinity.  They then host Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor, so UST isn't using its schedule to pad its record.  They also play two NAIA teams from the Red River Conference - North American and Houston-Victoria.  They actually play North American twice - once in a preseason scrimmage and a second team in the regular season, which is fairly unusual.

Texas Lutheran

As with the other top teams left in the SCAC, TLU plays Southwestern and Trinity as well as the top ASC teams Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor.  The most interesting opponent is Marymount (VA), which is visiting Texas on the second weekend of the season.  Marymount is pretty ambitious in its out-of-state travel, going to SoCal two years ago to play Occidental and Cal Lutheran.  This year, they are playing Schreiner as well on their trip to the Texas Hill Country.  This is a rebuilding year for TLU, which lost most of its regular starters to graduation from last season.

At Siena Heights, 67.8% of its students were athletes.  That's a canary in the coal mine stat:

https://bsky.app/profile/stevedittmore.bsky.social/post/3lsvt2nn5ik2z

QuoteUnfortunate news concerning Siena Heights University and its impending closure. Per 2023-24 EADA, school had 1,075 undergraduates, 729 athletes (67.8%). In 2022-23, the school reported 1,095 undergraduates, 684 athletes (62.5%).
https://www.sienaheights.edu/siena-heights-university-announces-closure/

[Cross-posted from the 2025 Schedules Thread]

This is the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles version of a schedule

Whitman

If this is accurate, Whitman has to have agreed to the craziest three game travel schedule I have ever seen.  First, they fly from either Walla Walla or drive 45 minutes to Pasco (or 2.5 hours to Spokane) to fly to Colorado Springs or Denver and play at Colorado College on Thursday, Sept 4.  Second, they hop on a plane in Colorado Springs or Denver and travel to (I assume) Austin and then take an hour bus ride to Belton, Texas to play Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday, Sept. 5th.  Third, they fly from Austin to Los Angeles or Burbank airports and drive 1-2 hours (depending upon traffic and time of arrival) to Thousand Oaks to play Cal Lutheran on Sunday Sept. 7.  Then they have two weeks off before conference play.  I'm envisioning some travel agent's Rubik's cube of one way flights on regional jets to pull this off.  Three games in four days in three different time zones and 5000+ feet changes in elevation.  Maybe the Admissions Office was offering a subsidy to any coach who could visit several different metropolitan areas for recruiting events this year?

Beyond the logistical nightmare of the trip, that's a nice opportunity to play three strong schools from three different conferences.  Whitman traveled to SoCal last year and beat Chapman and La Verne, while losing to Redlands, so Cal Lutheran should be a good matchup for them. 

Classy statement from SCAC Commissioner on the last day of Trinity and Southwestern's membership in the conference

Whitman

If this is accurate, Whitman has to have agreed to the craziest three game travel schedule I have ever seen.  First, they fly from either Walla Walla or drive 45 minutes to Pasco (or 2.5 hours to Spokane) to fly to Colorado Springs or Denver and play at Colorado College on Thursday, Sept 4.  Second, they hop on a plane in Colorado Springs or Denver and travel to (I assume) Austin and then take an hour bus ride to Belton, Texas to play Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday, Sept. 5th.  Third, they fly from Austin to Los Angeles or Burbank airports and drive 1-2 hours (depending upon traffic and time of arrival) to Thousand Oaks to play Cal Lutheran on Sunday Sept. 7.  Then they have two weeks off before conference play.  I'm envisioning some travel agent's Rubik's cube of one way flights on regional jets to pull this off.  Three games in four days in three different time zones and 5000+ feet changes in elevation.  Maybe the Admissions Office was offering a subsidy to any coach who could visit several different metropolitan areas for recruiting events this year?

Beyond the logistical nightmare of the trip, that's a nice opportunity to play three strong schools from three different conferences.  Whitman traveled to SoCal last year and beat Chapman and La Verne, while losing to Redlands, so Cal Lutheran should be a good matchup for them. 

Siena Heights, an NAIA school in Adrian, Michigan that routinely plays DIII schools in the area such as Adrian and Albion, announces it is closing after this upcoming academic year

QuoteSiena Heights University, with the full support of the Board of Trustees and General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, will close at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Senior leadership has assessed the financial situation, operational challenges, and long-term sustainability. Despite the dedication of our board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters, continuing operations beyond the coming academic year is no longer feasible.

"For 105 Years, Siena Heights University has been a beacon of light in a world sometimes cast in darkness," said Dr. Douglas B. Palmer, President. "The spirit of Siena Heights will continue long after the institution itself closes its doors because it lives in every graduate, faculty member, and staff person who has been on campus – whether in-person or online."

The University's top priority will be students' academic progress and working with partner institutions to establish transfer pathways that allow as little disruption as possible. Faculty and staff will be supported with transition assistance. The intent is to have as full and vibrant an academic year as possible, including academics, athletics, support services, and extracurriculars.