Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

Three late games in Region X

Pacific Lutheran 4 - Puget Sound 0

After starting the season 0-3, PLU has now won four in a row.  While two of those wins were against two of the weakest NWC teams in Lewis & Clark and George Fox, Puget Sound was undefeated coming into this game and had tied Wheaton (IL), a team that beat the Lutes.  But, the NWC Lutes are a whole different animal than the non-conference Lutes and they dominated in this match, scoring two goals each half and taking more than double the shots and triple the shots on goal.

Redlands 2 - La Verne 1

Redlands bounced back from a bad 3-1 loss to Caltech to take care of business at La Verne.  Anders Beckton had two assists, which, in the absence of a playmaking midfielder, may be the way Redlands can take advantage of Beckton's status as a center of gravity for their offense.  He still leads the team with 6 goals, but he needs to make other teams pay for keying on him.

Chapman 2 - Cal Lutheran 1

Chapman took a 2-0 lead into the half and held on in the second half to raise their record to 3-0 in the SCIAC and keeps them at the top of the table. Chapman took 19 shots to CLU's 5 and forced Cal Lu's keeper to make 8 saves.  Perhaps most impressive, Chapman's goals were scored by two seniors who aren't regular starters and haven't played that much in their careers.  That kind of depth is what helps a team down the stretch as the games start to stack up.

[BTXCru18]

FINAL:  Mary Hardin-Baylor 3 - Rhodes 2

Nice away win for UMHB, which has shown its ability to battle against teams in close games (e.g., ties against Colorado College and Whitman and a 2-1 win over Texas Lutheran).  Not sure why they scheduled a single away game at 11 am in Memphis, TN on a Wednesday, though, sandwiched between two home games on the Saturdays before and after this game.  I guess a ~600 mile drive isn't considered a big deal for a team from Texas.  In the game, the teams were tied 1-1 at the half, but Mary Hardin-Baylor scored just a few minutes after the start of the second half.  Rhodes tied it up again in the 56th, but UMHB scored the game winner in the 65th.  Mary Hardin-Baylor is now 6-1-2, with it's only loss being to St. Thomas

Part of the issue of having a 4 team conference... Struggling just to get enough games so you have to schedule more non-conference opponents and sprinkle them in midweek, even after conference play starts. Options are slim to find quality opponents outside of the norm; it's either games like @ Rhodes and @Belhaven or you're forced to look at JuCo's or NCCAA schools.

[Kuiper]

Southwestern 2 - East Texas Baptist 0

Southwestern scored goals in the 37th and 49th minutes and then, after going down a man in the 61st minute because defender Cooper Pero was shown a straight red card, hung on and even outshot ETBU after the red card to preserve the win.  Fortunately, Southwestern has a non-conference game against UC Santa Cruz this weekend, so Pero will miss that game rather than the opening of conference play next week.  Southwestern goes to 8-0-1 and East Texas Baptist goes to 5-5.

[Kuiper]

This goal from Aidan MacLennan in Pomona-Pitzer's win over Occidental last Saturday was really impressive.  Good camera angle to catch it too.  MacLennan leads the 6-0-2 Sagehens with 5 goals this season.

[Ron Boerger]

In a bit of a surprise, Trinity announced (on IG) that freshman Brandon Gondora will make his first start in goal for the Tigers in tonight's game against UC-Santa Cruz.  Gongora has seen limited action, stopping one shot in two appearances totalling 35'23". 

Edit: and 4'54" in he gives up his first collegiate goal.  But not his fault, the Trinity back line was caught napping and a beautfully timed pass to a just barely onside attacker put him in a 1v1 that was virtually impossible to defend.

[Kuiper]

In a bit of a surprise, Trinity announced (on IG) that freshman Brandon Gondora will make his first start in goal for the Tigers in tonight's game against UC-Santa Cruz.  Gongora has seen limited action, stopping one shot in two appearances totalling 35'23". 

Edit: and 4'54" in he gives up his first collegiate goal.  But not his fault, the Trinity back line was caught napping and a beautfully timed pass to a just barely onside attacker put him in a 1v1 that was virtually impossible to defend.

Gondora just saved a goal on another 1 v. 1 where the striker tried to chip him.

UPDATE:  Alex Baltov scores on a brilliant free kick for Trinity 30 second before the half.  Nice deception in the play and fantastic ball to the top corner.

HALF:  Trinity 1 - UC Santa Cruz 1

UPDATE:  Trinity 2 - UC Santa Cruz 1 in the 76th minute

Knutsen scores on a scramble in the box, plus a GK rebound, after a free kick.  This was coming as Trinity has had the lion's share of the possession in the second half and numerous chances.

FINAL:  Trinity 2 - UC Santa Cruz 1

[Kuiper]

Some crazy endings and games that should have been easy but were not.

Texas Lutheran 2 - Austin 2

This was a crazy ending AND a game that should have been easy (for Texas Lutheran) but was not.

First, the crazy ending.  Texas Lutheran outshot Austin 9-0, and had an 8-0 lead on corner kicks in the first half, but could not find the net.  They went to half time 0-0.  TLU finally broke through in the second half, scoring its first goal in the 63rd minute and its second in the 86th minute.  Considering that TLU had outshot Austin 23-1 by the time its scored its 2nd goal and there were only 4 minutes and 34 seconds left in the game, you would have thought TLU had sealed the victory.  And you would have been wrong.  Austin takes the kickoff on the 2nd goal and scores 17 seconds later to make it 2-1.  Then, Texas Lutheran commits a foul in the box 1 minute and 11 seconds later and Austin ties the game up in the 87th minute 2-2.  For a Texas Lutheran team that came into the game only having conceded 5 goals in 6 games to concede two in 1 minute 11 seconds has to really hurt.  Talk about celebrating a victory before crossing the finish line!

Second, this was a game that should have been easy for Texas Lutheran.  Austin's only victory was over winless Howard Payne.  Southwestern beat Austin 7-1 last Saturday, but only beat TLU 1-0.  If Texas Lutheran falls short in the SCAC this year, they will be looking back at this game with a lot of regret.

St. Thomas 2 - Schreiner 0

Schreiner entered this game with a 1-7-1 record.  It's only win was against winless Howard Payne and it has given up between 3 and 6 goals in every game except the HP game and a game against 1 win Dallas Christian (NCCAA).  So, for 5-1 St. Thomas to only score 2 goals on 26 shots made this game a lot closer than it should have been.  The Celts might have eased up after scoring goals in the 19th and 29th minutes, but it isn't like they emptied the bench. 

Concordia 1 - LeTourneau 1

LeTourneau's only win coming into this game was a 1-0 squeaker against ASC doormat Howard Payne, while Concordia has beaten Hardin-Simmons, tied Southwestern, and just beat East Texas Baptist 3-1.  Nevertheless, LeTourneau jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute, using a high press to disrupt Concordia's ability to play the ball out of the back and forced a mistake which led to a shot and a rebound that was hammered in by LeTourneau.  Concordia adjusted in the second half and and controlled possession, but was only able to eke out a tie with a goal in the 75th minute.

Centenary (LA) 3 - McMurry 1

These two teams are fairly evenly matched, but Centenary came out on the front foot and jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 18th minute.  They added a third goal in the 84th before McMurry got a consolation goal on a PK in the 89th minute.

[Kuiper]

Colorado College 3 - University of the Ozarks 0

The score suggests that this game was an easy one, and it certainly seemed that way when Colorado College scored first in the 8th minute, but an 19th minute straight red card to Rex Karjian, who got the assist with a cross to the head of Teddy Oppler on the first goal, made the game harder for the Tigers.  They went into halftime only up 1-0 on the one win Ozarks team, but CC got goals in the 58th and 68th minutes to blow the game open and they held onto that lead despite playing down a man for 72 minutes.

Centenary 3 - McMurry 1

Centenary came out on the front foot, scoring in the 7th and 18th minutes, and then closed the door on the game with a goal in the 84th before McMurry got a consolation PK in the 89th minute.

[Kuiper]

A few early results in the SCIAC

Whittier 0 - Chapman 0

Whittier was more potent offensively, but Chapman coach Eddie Carrillo had a good game plan to help mitigate this offense with an offside trap that the team generally worked to perfection. I only counted a few cases where Whittier's goalscorer Rowan Slater got a clean chance on goal.  The result was a scoreless draw.

Caltech 1 - Pomona-Pitzer 0

Pomona-Pitzer falls from the ranks of "Yet to Lose" teams, losing on a late goal in the 84th minute.  Caltech followed up its impressive 3-1 victory over Redlands with another SCIAC win.  The problem for Pomona-Pitzer was partly that Caltech plays such a similar game to P-P, which meant that P-P couldn't take advantage of the other team's tendency to over-press to break lines and give them a numerical advantage in front of goal. 

[Kuiper]

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2 - Redlands 0

Two programs that have fallen on hard times this season, but Redlands looked like the one that has fallen farther.  CMS scored in the 39th and held on to the 1-0 lead until the 87th when they got an insurance goal.  Both goals are worth watching, both for the skill of CMS' Atticus English dribbling in close spaces in the first and the good passing on the second, and the passiveness of Redlands' defenders. On offense, Redlands never looked threatening.  CMS outshot them 21-3 and Redlands only had 1 shot on goal all game and only 1 corner kick.  Zach Darmanyan, Redlands' second leading goal and assist man this season, did not play and it showed.  Promising freshman forward Gavin Facer, who had a goal and an assist in the win over UC Santa Cruz, also did not play.  Without them, CMS was easily able to neutralize Anders Beckton and Redlands didn't seem to have any other creative options to turn to for help.

[BTXCru18]

UMHB vs. Howard Payne

The Cru open conference play with a 6-0 win at home. 6 different goal scorers, 27 players used.

Was 2-0 at half but the game was never really close. Got the scoring started less than 2 minutes in and the HPU goalkeeper even registered 13 saves. UMHB move to 7-1-2 and have won 5 straight coming off of their only loss to UST.

[Kuiper]

HALF: La Verne 3 - Cal Lutheran 0

La Verne absolutely dismantled Cal Lutheran in the first half, out-shooting Cal Lu 10-0 and scoring goals in the 25th, 34th, and 36th minutes.  Juan Manzano has had a coming-out party in this game.  He's a junior who started his career at DII Cal State Dominguez Hills, then moved to Santa Ana College, a junior college, last season.  He's started all 8 of La Verne's games, but had not yet scored or contributed to a goal.  In the first half, he scored two goals (2 minutes apart) and assisted on the third.

UPDATE:  La Verne 3 - Cal Lutheran 1 (54th minute)

Cal Lu woke up at halftime and came up with a shot in the 53rd minute that went into the net

UPDATE:  La Verne 4 - Cal Lutheran 1 (81st minute)

On a counter, La Verne's Diego Soto, who scored the team's first goal, gets a second with a nice cut back from the right side of the box to shoot with his left to just inside the far post.  If the game wasn't put to bed before that, it should be now. 

FINAL:  La Verne 4 - Cal Lutheran 1

Cal Lu got more into the game in the second half, but it was too big a hill to climb.  Cal Lu drops to 2-5-1 and 1-2-1 in the SCIAC and La Verne moves to 3-3-3 and 1-2-1 in conference

[Kuiper]

Some NWC action Saturday:

Whitman 1 - Linfield 0

Whitman may be the class of the NWC thus far this season, with a 5-0-3 record and a 4-0 NWC mark, but only beating winless Linfield by a 1-0 score should raise some eyebrows.  They did outshoot Linfield 16-4, but if Linfield can hold them to 1 goal, then other NWC teams will shut them out. 

Pacific Lutheran 3 - Willamette 3

PLU, which had shut out all three of its NWC opponents before this game, gives up some ground to Whitman with a tie to one-win Willamette that saw the Lutes give up a late lead by conceding a free kick goal to Willamette in the 76th minute.  For a game with 6 goals between the two teams, it was odd that only two were scored in the run of play.  PLU scored on two PKs and one free kick.  PLU is now 4-3-1 and 3-0-1 in the NWC, while Willamette, despite showing signs of life, is now 1-4-4 and 1-1-3 in the NWC>

George Fox 1 - Lewis & Clark 0

Lewis & Clark was 1 minute and 22 seconds from securing its first conference point since 2023 (also a tie against George Fox).  Alas, George Fox found the game winner in the 89th minute on a PK after Lewis & Clark was down to 9 men because of second yellows in the 75th and 86th minutes, so it's really to Lewis & Clark's credit that it held GF off for as long as it did.

[Kuiper]

Southwestern 0 - UC Santa Cruz 0

UC Santa Cruz played a similarly disciplined defensive game as it did against Trinity on Friday.  The difference was that it never found the early counter-attack goal and Southwestern never found a way to break down the UCSC defense, despite many opportunities and scrambles in the box.  Southwestern had a 22-12 advantage on shots and 11 to 4 advantage on corners, but lacked the creativity or final product that propelled Trinity to victory.  Defender Cooper Pero and his 6'4" frame might have helped offer Southwestern an arial element on corners and crosses, but he was out after receiving a red card in the previous game against East Texas Baptist.  UCSC goes to 4-4-1 and Southwestern goes to 8-0-2.

[Kuiper]

Sunday games in the SCAC

Colorado College 7 - Hendrix 0

Welcome to the SCAC Hendrix!  Did we mention that on the opening weekend of conference play you'll be flying out to Colorado Springs and playing Colorado College at altitude?  At least Hendrix got to play its conference opener at University of Dallas, where they won 3-1.  This was never a contest.  Colorado College had 23 shots to 6 for Hendrix and converted 50% of its shots on goal.  Colorado College stays unbeaten at 5-0-3 and 2-0 in the SCAC, while Hendrix drops to 2-4-1 and 1-1 in the SCAC

St. Thomas 3 - McMurry 0

UST scored in the 17th minute and then spent the second half trying to add to its lead before finding the back of the net in the 83rd and 87th minutes.  Not an entirely convincing performance, but the long trip to Abilene may have left them sluggish after beating Schreiner on Friday.  They move to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the SCAC, while McMurry drops to 2-6-1 and 0-2.

Texas Lutheran 1 - LeTourneau 0

After a bad tie to Austin, TLU at least squeaks out a victory against one win LeTourneau, but it wasn't as easy as it should have been if TLU wants to challenge for the SCAC title.  It scored in the 27th minute, but couldn't develop a cushion over the game despite outshooting LeTourneau in the second half 8-3. 

Schreiner 4 Centenary 0

Schreiner came into this game with only two wins, one against an NCAA opponent (Howard Payne, which is in the basement of the ASC), and had been beaten handily by Trinity, Southwestern Marymount (VA), East Texas Baptist and St. Thomas, all by 2-3 goal margins or more.  Centenary, however, only got off 1 shot all game.  Not sure what happened to Centenary since it did beat McMurry 3-1 on Friday.  Perhaps it was tired or had injuries, but I would have thought it could at least have been competitive.

Ozarks 3 - Dallas 0

Ozarks left Colorado Springs with its tails between its legs after a 3-0 loss to Colorado College on Friday and took out its frustrations on University of Dallas, winning by the same score it lost the previous game.  It wasn't as easy as the score would indicate, though, as it went up 1-0 on a PK in the 19th minute and didn't add the two other goals until the last ten minutes of the game.  Dallas remains winless, while Ozarks moves to 2-5-2 and 1-1 in the SCAC.

Concordia (TX) 1 - Austin College 0

Concordia avoided the fate TLU suffered Friday, and the bad tie it ended up with against LeTourneau on Friday, by scoring just before halftime and then preventing Austin from even taking a shot in the second half.  The fact that TLU and Concordia are just squeaking by in these games suggests that Colorado College and St. Thomas may have their way in the SCAC unless some other team steps up over the season.