Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity dumped a batch of new commits on their IG page today:

• Jayden Schnell, 6'3" GK, Plano TX, JR - apparently was at Birmingham-Southern in '23, started 12 matches, 1.79 GA/60.4% Sv; Spring Holl College in '24, 1 start, 1.00 GA/80.0% Sv
• Hodge MacDonald, MF, "England" - other than a highlight reel, no details
• Diego Vidales, 6'0" MF, Laredo TX - brother of former TU GK Juan Carlos Vidales '23
• Luis Yunta Bernabeu, GK, Madrid, Spain - played at Vermont Academy (HS) '23-'25
• Jack Madsen, 6'1" GK, Dallas TX - played at Highland Park, which won the 5A DII state championship before being stripped of it for using an ineligible player.  Interestingly he appears listed as a D on MaxPreps and had a SOG in that championship match.  In '23-'24 he did play parts of eight matches in goal. 
• Matt Lim, 5'10" D, Davao City, Phillipines - announced a couple weeks ago, played for his national team when not attending Montverde Academy in Florida.
• Noah Crane, MF, Palo Alto CA - announced three weeks ago

It appears that after several years wandering in the keeper wilderness, McGinlay was determined not to have that problem again. 

[Kuiper]

Cross-posted from the Coaching Carousel thread

Wonder where he's going, assuming the other opportunity is in soccer.  He kind of worked miracles in getting his team to consistently improve over the season each year so that they were able to advance farther in the ASC tournament than the record suggested they would.  That kind of thing often happens when your coaching brings added value to a school that isn't attracting naturally strong talent.

Van Holland Steps Down as Head Men's Soccer Coach at LeTourneau

LeTourneau head men's soccer coach Brady Van Holland announced his decision to step down from the position, as his family pursues other career opportunities.

"My wife and I have enjoyed our time here at LeTourneau," Van Holland said. "We will greatly miss being surrounded by people we call family now. I would like to thank Dr. Sceggel, President Mason, and everyone in the athletics department for welcoming us with open arms."

"Brady Van Holland has been an incredible gift to this institution," said LeTourneau Vice President for Athletics Dr. Tim Sceggel. "Not only has he made a huge impact on the pitch, but he played a significant role in the formation of our culture of cultivating disciples and pursuing excellence. His loss will be deeply felt in our department."

Van Holland spent three years as the head coach of the YellowJackets and led the program to 18 wins and two trips to the ASC Tournament championship round. He was the 2022 ASC Coach of the Year after leading the YellowJackets to a late season run, which included the program's first appearance in the conference championship match in 24 years.

Twice the YellowJackets made the ASC Tournament championship match as a low-seeded team under Van Holland. In 2022, LeTourneau was the No. 6 seed and advanced past No. 3 seed Hardin-Simmons and No. 2 seed Concordia Texas -- both in penalty shootouts -- to reach the title match. In 2024, the No. 4 seeded YellowJackets defeated Howard Payne and then took down No. 1 seed Mary Hardin-Baylor in PKs to advance to the title match.

Under Van Holland's tutelage, the YellowJackets had two ASC Goalkeeper of the Year awards (Raul Torrez in 2022 and 2023) and one ASC Offensive Freshman of the Year (Caleb Nelson, 2023). LeTourneau totaled 15 All-ASC selections, six ASC All-Tournament honors, and seven ASC weekly award winners.

Van Holland's 2022 team was voted as the ASC SAAC Team Sportsmanship Award recipient.

[Kuiper]

Another Region X team dropped its schedule:

Chapman

Opens the season with a trip to Illinois where it plays Wheaton and DePauw.  It then returns to play Life Pacific (NAIA) and its alumni game before starting SCIAC play.  This year, it plays the following teams twice:  LaVerne (twice in two weeks), Caltech, CMS, and Whittier.  Seems like a pretty favorable draw for them, which they'll need given that they are playing only the 13 conference games and 2 other countable DIII opponents non-conference.