Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

Denison 1 - Pomona-Pitzer 0

Not a bad showing from P-P, which showed it could hang with Denison, even if it lacked the pieces to actually beat them.  Coach Moore has instilled some bite into them team, as in past years they would rarely get more than double the yellow cards (5-2) and almost double the number of fouls (22-12).  Pomona really misses the set piece prowess they had the last few seasons with Nic Ulrich.  That really has limited their offensive productivity against teams that are disciplined and tougher to break down in the run of play.

[Kuiper]

Cal Lutheran 1 - Emory 1

Emory hung on to a 1-0 lead for about 50 minutes, but conceded the equalizer on a corner kick in the 86th minute.  Cal Lu salvages a tie on a banner weekend after beating Colorado College 3-1.  If anything, this tie seems a bit unfair to Cal Lu, which seemed to want it more than Emory and seemed to have a fair bit of technical ability to get it. Part of this was because Emory's Ewan Robertson went out with a red card in the 76th minute, but Cal Lu was controlling things for quite awhile, going back to the latter half of the 1st half.  Emory just went into a shell after they scored.  I didn't love Emory's strategy of just having Halpern kick long goal kicks with everyone pushed up either.  Coaches like it because it moves the threat away from their goal, but in this case that just meant conceding an easy giveaway higher up the pitch with a pinched up defense that was vulnerable to a fast moving counter attack, fully playing into Cal Lu's strength and giving them lots of opportunities in the second half. Cal Lu outshot Emory 10-1 in the 2nd half alone and conceded 5 corners to 0 as well in the 2nd half, with the final one proving the difference. 

After a weak start to the nonconference season, Cal Lu is now looking like they might make some noise this year in the SCIAC.

[Kuiper]

Lewis & Clark is soooo close

George Fox 4 - Lewis & Clark 3

George Fox was up 3-1 in the 75th minute and looked to be cruising to victory.  Lewis & Clark, however, is familiar with that kind of a deficit.  Let's say they've been there before.  They narrowed it 3-2 in the 77th, but George Fox got a PK goal in the 79th to seemingly put this to bed.  L&C wasn't going away quietly though, with Dylan Weinstein scoring his 2nd goal of the game to make it 4-3 in the 84th minute.  Alas, they couldn't find the equalizer and their historic winless streak extends to 75 if you don't count their partial schedule in their first season and 82 if you do count those games.

Silver lining:  With his brace today, senior MF Dylan Weinstein now has 3 goals in 2026.  According to L&C's site, the all goals scoring leader in a single season since the program restarted in 2022 is four goals by Nadav Dicovski in 2023.  Second on the all-time list is Weinstein with 3 in 2025.  So, even if L&C can't get a win, they can get Weinstein the co-single season goal scoring record with at least one more goal this year or he can have it to himself if he scores two goals!  Also, Weinstein's brace is now tied with Dicovski for the single game scoring record with two goals!

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity(TX) 3 - Texas A&M San Antonio (NAIA) 3

In the first actual game in history between the two San Antonio-based teams, Trinity gets a tie with the visiting Jaguars (11-4-2 last season) after Luke Mayfield, making his first start of the season (after a brief appearance off the bench last game) converted a PK in the 86th minute.  Trinity also started Brandon Gongora in goal for the first time this year; he allowed three goals on six shots faced.

The Tigers will hope that Mayfield's return will help steady a team which has struggled so far this season. 

[D3Navy]

Trinity(TX) 3 - Texas A&M San Antonio (NAIA) 3

In the first actual game in history between the two San Antonio-based teams, Trinity gets a tie with the visiting Jaguars (11-4-2 last season) after Luke Mayfield, making his first start of the season (after a brief appearance off the bench last game) converted a PK in the 86th minute.  Trinity also started Brandon Gongora in goal for the first time this year; he allowed three goals on six shots faced.

The Tigers will hope that Mayfield's return will help steady a team which has struggled so far this season. 

Max Salinas didn't play.  I hope he's alright.   

[Kuiper]

United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings are starting to be posted for 2026. 

USC Region X Ranking for 9/15

Rank   School       Prev   W-L-T

1   Claremont-McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges   NR   3-1-1
2   University of Redlands   NR   2-1-0
3   East Texas Baptist University   NR   4-0-0
4   Southwestern University   NR   3-1-0
5   Colorado College   NR   3-1-0
6   University of Mary Hardin-Baylor   NR   3-1-0
7   Pacific Lutheran University   NR   2-1-1
8   Whitman College   NR   2-1-1

[Kuiper]

United Soccer Coaches Region IX Ranking Sept. 15, 2026

Region IX - Poll 1 - September 15, 2026
Rank   School   Prev   W-L-T
1   St. Olaf College   NR   6-0-0
2   Saint John's University   NR   6-0-0
3   University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire   NR   3-0-1
4   Macalester College   NR   1-0-3
5   Augsburg University   NR   1-0-2
6   University of Wisconsin-Platteville   NR   2-1-1
7   Luther College   NR   1-1-1
8   Wartburg College   NR   1-1-3

[Kuiper]

Caltech 2 - Chapman 2

Caltech was cruising with a 2-0 lead after a Matthew Luk brace and then things got interesting as the game got oddly physical.  Each team delivered highlight reel reckless tackles that could have ended up as red cards, but only elicited yellows.  I don't think I have seen Caltech get 4 yellows in a game before!  This woke Chapman up from its passive state and it scored goals in the 87th and 88th minutes to tie the game up and steal a point. It was quite the finish on opening day. 

[Kuiper]

FINAL:  Pomona-Pitzer 3 - Cal Lutheran 0

This game was the Aidan MacLennan show as he had a hat trick and took 4 out of the team's 6 shots.  Cal Lu's maddening inconsistency continues.

FINAL:  Whittier 1 - CMS 0

Whittier broke a 0-0 deadlock in the 65th minute in a game that was fairly even except that Whittier was more efficient with putting its shots on frame.  CMS is now winless in its last three after being national ranked because of its win over Trinity and last second loss away to North Park.  While the Trinity win might have been less impressive in retrospect given subsequent performances, I think it may be more accurate to say that CMS is improved this year, but still has a ways to go to be a national contender.

FINAL:  Redlands 2 - Azusa Pacific 2

Redlands was cruising to victory with a 2-1 lead and an innocent looking cross/shot from AP in the 89th minute appears to bounce pass a Redlands defender and the GK and into the back of the next.  Much like CMS, Redlands effectively fritters away much of the reputation earned from beating Trinity and Emory last weekend to become nationally ranked.  Azusa is definitely not an easy out in the SCIAC despite losing the bulk of its players from last season when it was in D2, but Redlands can't give it away that easy. 

FINAL:  La Verne 2 - Occidental 2

Another late equalizer in a SCIAC After Dark game.  Oxy scored in the 4th minute, but La Verne's Alex Bastidas equalized in the 20th and it stayed even until Oxy was awarded a PK in the 88th minute.  As so often happens after securing what seems like the winning goal late, Oxy switched off for a second and Bastidas once again found the equalizer for La Verne with 19 seconds left in the game.  La Verne showed on its Texas trip that it can compete with anyone, tying Trinity and losing 1-0 to Southwestern.  They are going to be in the mix in what seems like a tight SCIAC race.