Weather looks relatively dry in Rock Island this afternoon..... 20% chance of rain, cloudy. Rain in morning and this evening...............

Should be a great game at Ericson Field today!!!

Go Vikings!

NYU has scored a goal early at Emory.

NYU goal scored in the 4th minute from Kenyon Namdar at the 3:54 mark, assist by Wilhelm Frissell.

NYU up 1-0 at Emory early in the first half.

One result from the ASC last night.  Equally as crazy as the SCAC games.  Friday night lights in Texas and all of that I guess.

Hardin-Simmons 3 - East Texas Baptist 2

Hardin-Simmons has had a rough season, coming into this game with a 6 game winless streak, a 3-8-1 overall record, and no wins in the ASC, including a 2-0 loss to woeful Howard Payne two weeks ago.  Glimmers of light, however, in a 1-0 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor last week suggested that they might still be able to offer meaningful resistance to the Cru.  This game, however, demonstrates that it's going to be a challenge every game for this team and it's going to take some craziness. 

And CRAZY describes this game.  ETBU was up 2-1 at halftime and it looked like H-S might once again fall in conference.  Then, in the 70th minute, H-S came up with something really special ***KLAXON Alert** a Goalkeeper Goal!  H-S' goalkeeper, Carson Null (a great surname for a goalkeeper by the way) scored on a long free kick to tie up the game.  Then, 20 seconds later, there's a dust-up between players, leading to a yellow for the H-S player and a red to an ETBU player.  With the man advantage, H-S scores the game-winner 6 minutes later.  The two teams are now tied for second to UMHB in the ASC standings.

I just saw this from the Wash U newspaper and thought it might be of interest.  There are probably a lot of former club soccer players on DIII campuses that could play if given a chance.

'Over the Moon':  Yash Kshirsagar's Journey from Walk-On to the Men's Soccer Team

QuoteIn the spring of 2024, then-first-year Yash Kshirsagar received an email that would change his life.

The midfielder had not heard back from former WashU men's soccer head coach Joe Clarke for months. He was passed over for an offer to play varsity soccer at WashU out of high school. After being accepted to WashU on his academic merit, he says he "stayed persistent" in emailing Clarke his updates: highlight reels, monthly check-ins, anything to keep in contact with the Bears' coach. All he heard back was radio silence, until Clarke's name appeared in his inbox with a surprising question.

"He said, 'I want you to come to our first training session on Friday at 6:00 a.m. Can you be there?'" Kshirsagar recalled. "And I was like, 'Yeah, of course I'll be there.'"

Now a junior on the varsity men's soccer team, Kshirsagar's story is different from most. Kshirsagar is the only player on the team to join as a walk-on, joining the team after a season playing for the men's club soccer team. He rode the bench for the entire 2024 season. But this year, he has come off the bench in a majority of the Bears' games and started in an early-season tilt against Westminster College. He is playing on the wing this season, a difficult adjustment from the midfield position he has played his entire life. But against all odds, this season, Kshirsagar has gotten regular minutes and goal-scoring opportunities.

Sometimes, Kshirsagar himself can't even believe it.

"There was about a year where I was really uncertain about my future and I didn't really know if I would play again," he said. "So having that all pay off is such a relief. I'm just over the moon."

Kshirsagar starred in high school, serving as team captain for his final season at the St. Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2023, he joined the Minneapolis City Futures team, which plays in the United Premier Soccer League. Through Minneapolis City, Kshirsagar met now-senior Zach Susee, a well-known name in Minnesota soccer circles and a forward for the WashU men's soccer team. The two of them had never met, but they shared a career progression — from the youth-level Salvo Soccer Club, to Minneapolis City, and ultimately, to WashU.

"I got to play with Yash a little bit at [Minneapolis] City, and he was on one of the teams that I used to watch at tournaments when I was younger," Susee said. "It's pretty cool that we have someone on the team from the same area and same club as me, even if I didn't know him personally."

Kshirsagar woke up early that day to train with the team. After attending a few more training sessions, he got an invite to the team lift session. The newly-hired head coach, Andrew Bordelon, soon asked him to practice with the team. He dressed with the team in an exhibition game against Saint Louis University that April but didn't see the field. He began to plan his daily routine around a team he didn't yet know he was a part of, all for the opportunity to play with the senior team.

At the end of the spring season, Kshirsagar had to ask Bordelon the uncomfortable question: did he make the team? He got the answer he had been waiting for.

"I kind of knew by then, since I was invited to train and practice all spring," Kshirsagar said. "But him saying that in words and giving me the confirmation was just incredible."

Despite training and practicing for the men's soccer team for over a year, Kshirsagar didn't see the field until the 33rd minute of the men's soccer 2025 season opener against Millikin University.

Bordelon turned to his former walk-on midfielder for the first time – poetically, replacing Susee on the pitch. 35 minutes later, first-year Wole Adeoye crossed a ball into the box. Once again, Kshirsagar did not waste his opportunity. He scored the goal that extended WashU's lead to 6-0, but more importantly, scored his first collegiate goal. He has not scored since facing Millikin, but he recorded his first career start in the following game against Westminster College.

"In the moment, I didn't really think about everything I have done to get that goal," he said. "But after the game, when I was with my parents, I realized all the steps I had to take to get there. That was a special moment."

Kshirsagar is still constantly adjusting. He is adapting to a new position, one which requires him to be less involved with playmaking and more clinical with his finishing. He's still training and improving every single day. With many of the Bears' regular forwards injured, the new winger is taking the opportunity to continue to carve out a prominent role for this year's squad.

"My goal is to bring that spark," he said. "I want to bring that speed and attacking power. And when I'm playing to my ability, that's something I'm able to do well."

So far, Kshirsagar has done just that. This year, he has logged valuable minutes in nearly all of the Bears' seven games. His energy off the bench is palpable, always bringing a good attitude with him into games.

"He is one of the most positive people I've ever met and just a genuinely nice person," Susee said. "He's just a really, really good guy, everyone in the locker room enjoys having him around, and now he's one of the guys that just fits well with the team."

For Kshirsagar, the journey has always been about more than just personal glory. He sees himself as proof that persistence pays off and that there's space for players who may not have taken the traditional recruiting route.

 "The main thing is to keep reaching out," he said, offering advice to future walk-ons. "At first, I didn't really see the importance of me following up so persistently. But I think that if I had sent only three emails instead of the ten that I did send, [Clarke] probably wouldn't have emailed me and called me up."

From captaining his high school soccer team, to doubting whether collegiate soccer was within reach, to becoming the team's only walk-on among a roster of highly-touted high school recruits, Kshirsagar's success has come in waves. And as the Bears' season continues, he's determined to keep building on that momentum — one game, one opportunity at a time.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on October 16, 2025, 09:53:26 PMMakes Flo look cheap, comparatively, especially for a casual fan who might follow multiple sports at a school.

I have to think that a lot of casual fans watch more than one sport.  And that the typical WIAC football fan also watch basketball and vice versa.

At least a few of the Agile based league networks in Division II are in the $120-150 range per season.

I am curious if the developments in the MIAC and WIAC were driven more by the leagues or by Agile trying to shore up their Division III market share.

You're definitely not wrong about QB patience nowadays. I think one of the hardest things to navigate is it used to be a guy might wait 2 years for his shot. Which meant you had some depth behind your starter. Now it's start early or transfer. Which I get at QB, where there's only one spot and one guy. But that does make it hard to have quality depth at your most important position. 


What's wild are the kids even at the small college level that transfer 2 or 3 times.

This week's UAA game schedule

Today (Saturday, October 18, 2025)

11 AM Eastern  (Rankings according to United Soccer Coaches D3 National rankings)-- 2 games on tap.

1.) #6 Brandeis at Rochester-- JC DeLass on play by play with former Rochester men's soccer head coach Chris Apple on color commentary.

A Week 8 D3 Soccer pool game

Hive predicted:  Brandeis 54% chance of winning, Rochester 32% chance of winning, Draw about 13 to 14% chance.

2.) NYU at #3 Emory-- Probable play by play person may be Will Hopkins, I will have to check FloCollege stream.

(Update-- former Emory men's soccer alum Patrick Carver on play by play today.  He last did play by play for the Sonny Carter Invitational earlier this season, but did not do play by play in the previous Emory men's soccer home game.)

Later today at 5:30 PM Central/6:30 PM Eastern

3.) CWRU at #19 U.Chicago-- Jonah White most likely on play by play for this one.


Tomorrow (Sunday, October 19, 2025) at 11 AM Central/Noon Eastern

4.) RV-- Carnegie Mellon at #4 Wash U-- Jay Murry on play by play.

Quote from: DannyG on Yesterday at 11:50:07 AMHey, Im a current college student and former d3 football player (I quit the team my sophomore year to focus on other things). Whenever I was at my schools football games I'd wonder how we match up vs the team we are playing. I made a website called d3lines.com that gives every d3 team a spread vs their opponents. You obviously cant bet on it and it's just for entertainment purposes but I thought I'd share incase anyone else found it interesting. Lines are a good general ballpark but not the sharpest things in the world

buddy we already have a guy for that 

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on Yesterday at 11:04:06 PMIt's good that they are doing it this way because they'll quickly realize no one will want to pay to watch the postseason. Appreciate the free regular season now before they decide to change it.

It's on a "trial" basis. If nobody watches?

HansenRatings' takes on this week's games:

@Millsaps 25 Maryville 38 - Scots 79% to win
@Sewanee 8 Berry 40 - Vikings 98% to win
@Trinity 49 Rhodes 7 - Tigers 99+% to win
@Centre 34 Southwestern 25 - Colonels 71% to win

As always, Hansen seems to underrate Maryville and I'll take them by another TD.  Berry seems likely to win by more as well.