Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[BTXCru18]

Mary Hardin-Baylor 2 - Belhaven 1

Pretty even game.  UMHB went down very quickly on a goal in the first minute of regulation, but it clawed its way back with goals less than a minute before halftime and then again in the 53rd minute.  UMHB goes to 8-1-2 overall and plays ASC foe East Texas Baptist on Saturday (it may even be going there directly from this game and arriving a day early since it's on the way back to Belton, more or less).  Its biggest remaining tests may not come in conference, though, although games against Hardin-Simmons are always tough regardless of team records, but from its remaining non-conference games at Southwestern and at Trinity.

EDIT: I should add that under NPI, there is an unusual dynamic going on in Region X among Whitman, Colorado College, and UMHB.  At an early season round-robin at Colorado College, UMHB and Whitman tied 2-2, Whitman and Colorado College tied 2-2, and UMHB and Colorado College tied 0-0.  All three are in the lead for their conference titles and therefore should have a large number of wins and at least a couple of ties (half-wins) against high-ish NPI schools because of these early season ties in Colorado Springs.  That might not matter for those three schools if they each win their conference auto-bids, but it could help them if they don't.  Moreover, it could help other teams.  St. Thomas has beaten UMHB, which could be valuable if they are not the SCAC champion although UMHB has the toughest remaining schedule because it still plays Trinity and Southwestern.  Moreover, if Trinity and/or Southwestern do beat UMHB, that could give them an NPI boost too.   

Yes, the team went straight to Marshall from Jackson, MS. Might I add, UMHB is on a 6 game winning streak for the first time since 2022. This team has quite a bit more grit than the past couple of years. Curious how the first round of NPI will shake out, given what you said.

[Kuiper]

ASC action tonight

UPSET ALERT:

Howard Payne 2 - Hardin-Simmons 0 (71st minute)

Winless HP scored in the 10th minute and had been holding on to a lead for the last 60 minutes as it withstood a barrage of Hardin-Simmons shots (30-6) and it just scored a second goal against the run of play.  H-S has 20 minutes to claw back into the game or else it will sink to the bottom of the ASC standings

FINAL:  Howard Payne 2 - Howard Simmons 0

When you give a weaker team an early goal, you both motivate them and allow them to play a defensive counter-attack style that suits their lower skill level.  That's what happened in this game and H-S simply isn't good enough to create a lot of strong opportunities.  Credit to HPU's keeper, who made 14 saves, but too few were truly threatening.  H-S will have to step up its game if it wants to compete with Mary Hardin-Baylor next week in Belton.

FINAL:  Mary Hardin-Baylor 2 - East Texas Baptist 0

Not a dominating performance, but UMHB managed to break-through in the second half, scoring goals in the 68th and 74th minutes to seal the victory.  They go to 9-1-2 and 2-0 in the ASC.

[Kuiper]

Some NWC games today

Linfield 3 - Puget Sound 2

Huge first win for Linfield, which has had a tough season.  It got on the board early in this game, scoring in the 13th minute, but it allowed Puget Sound to equalize in 16th minute and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1.  Linfield, however, took the lead again in the 50th minute on a PK.  Linfield's Danny Paz then scored a great insurance goal in the 87th after a Puget Sound player went out with a second yellow.  It turned out to be necessary insurance goal as Puget Sound scored a second goal a minute later on a PK.  Sadly, Linfield announced on their instagram page that Paz, who was red carded in the challenge that led to Puget Sound's second goal, broke his leg on the challenge. 

Pacific Lutheran 4 - Pacific 1

PLU recovered from the Willamette tie last game and resumed its normal practice of thrashing NWC opponents.  It was up 4-0 by the first minute of the second half and only conceded a consolation goal to Pacific in the 71st minute.  The Lutes are now 4-0-1 in the NWC, trailing only Whitman, which is 5-0 after its great escape against Lewis & Clark last night.

Whitworth 1 - George Fox 0

As with its 1-0 victory last game against Linfield, Whitworth does just enough to win against the NWC opponents it should beat, but no more.

[Kuiper]

Evening action in the SCIAC

Pomona-Pitzer 2 - Whittier 1

Pomona-Pitzer hands Whittier its first loss and jumps up to second in the SCIAC behind Chapman with goals just before and just after halftime.  This was a game where neither team really got into much of a rhythm, but P-P had a few more moments of brilliance than Whittier.

Occidental 3 - Redlands 0

Odd to say, but this was a meeting of the two teams currently at the bottom of the SCIAC standings.  Oxy, however, seems to be on the way up and Redlands seems to be on the way further down.  After its 5-1 beatdown of Caltech, Oxy followed it up with a commanding performance tonight, scoring 1 goal in the first half and two more in a two minute period midway through the second half to seal the victory.  Redlands only had one shot on goal all game and still seems adrift offensively without Evan Darmanyan.

La Verne 2 - CMS 1

ULV broke open a tight 0-0 tie with a goal in the 71st minute and added an insurance goal in the 80th minute before CMS got in its consolation goal in the 85th.  Sad senior night for CMS, which rightly gave minutes to its departing players in a season that appears all but lost for the Stags.

[Ron Boerger]

Early SAA action involving Western teams:

Trinity 4 @Berry 1

After dominating run of play and leading 2-0 at the break, the Tigers took full advantage of two obvious fouls called in the penalty area, with Samuel Theiss and Thomas Kay both converting from the spot.  Berry (5-3-3/0-1-0 SAA) is coming off two 0-1 losses to Maryville and Southwestern; their other loss was 1-3 at the hands of (then) #3 Emory.

I am disappointed at the Berry broadcast; not only do the camera lenses need cleaning, but there is nobody calling the action. 

Edit:  Trinity returns the favor with an obvious foul just inside their penalty area with just under 2' to go.   Max Albertson converts to erase the Tigers' clean sheet opportunity, but Trinity moves to 9-1-0/2-0-0 SAA.

[Kuiper]

Southwestern 1 - Oglethorpe 0

Just like against Berry on Friday, Southwestern gets a late goal (this time in the 82nd minute) to get the win against a strong defensive Oglethorpe team.  Southwestern outshot Oglethorpe 20-10, but a combination of good goalkeeping and predictable/non-threatening shots kept Southwestern off the scoresheet for most of the game.

Colorado College 0 - St. Thomas 0

In what could be a preview of the SCAC finals, Colorado College and St. Thomas spent 90 minutes toying with each other, neither eager to take many chances and open themselves up in the back.  They only combined for 9 total shots and Colorado College only had one shot on goal the whole time.  St. Thomas only had two and both of those came late in the game.  Colorado College at least put the ball up the wings and drew a few corners, but overall it was a very safe game by both teams.

Texas Lutheran 1 - Hendrix 0

Not the offensive explosion TLU had against Ozarks when it won 401, but they scored in the 27th minute and had 17 shots in total without finding the back of the net again.  Texas Lutheran is 3-0-1 in the SCAC, which leaves them tied with Colorado College and St. Thomas at the top of the SCAC

Concordia TX 2 - Ozarks 0

Concordia broke open a tight 0-0 game in the second half, scoring in the 47th and 85th minutes, leaving them with a 2-0-2 record after tying Hendrix on Friday.

Austin 2 - Schreiner 1

Austin opened up the scoring in the 18th minute, but Schreiner tied it up in the 29th and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1.  Austin scored the winner in the 70th and held on for its second win in the SCAC. 

Notably, this was either as clean a game as I've ever seen in the SCAC or the Referee was turning a blind eye all game.  According to the box score, there was only one foul called the entire game among the two teams.  Last time I heard of something like that was in rec soccer.  I guess this was the equivalent of Sunday School soccer!

LeTourneau 3 - McMurry 2

LeTourneau wins its first SCAC game, beating winless McMurry after exploding for three goals in the second half in the 53rd, 60th, and 72nd minutes.

Centenary 7 - University of Dallas 0

After a surprisingly close 0-2 loss to St. Thomas on Friday, winless University of Dallas goes back to form and is demolished by Centenary, which started out the scoring in minute 2 and didn't stop until the 61st minute.

[Kuiper]

Some NWC action on a Sunday afternoon.  Where defense is optional

Whitman 4 - George Fox 3

Whitman appears to like living dangerously.  Or, they are bored and need to get behind before they start caring about the game.  Or, they seriously need to change their hype-up song and pre-game warm-ups.  Whatever it is, they went behind 2-0 again on Sunday as they did on Friday to Lewis & Clark.  George Fox is better than Lewis & Clark, but only because they beat Lewis & Clark 1-0 earlier this season.  They haven't beaten another NCAA DIII team this season, although they tied Pacific and Willamette by 1-1 scores.  They also haven't scored multiple goals in a single NWC game this season.  And yet they found themselves up 2-0 in the 31st minute against 1st place and undefeated Whitman.  As with Friday against L&C, it was that point that Whitman went to work, scoring in the 35th, 37th, and 43rd minutes to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.  After relaxing and letting George Fox equalize in the 52nd, Whitman finally secures the game-winner in the 67th and kept it.  I don't think Whitman can get away with these slow starts next game against Pacific Lutheran, but just in case maybe their coach can just tell them they are down 2-0 at the start?

Pacific Lutheran 5 - Linfield 3

Speaking of Pacific Lutheran, they didn't exactly play defense much themselves in their game today.  The difference is that PLU built-up a big 3-0 first half lead with goals in the 17th, 24th, and 27th minutes and THEN rested on their laurels, allowing Linfield to score in the 54th, 57th, and 58th minutes, before the Lutes took back the lead in the 61st and tacked on an insurance goal in the 75th.  PLU is now 5-0-1 in the NWC and Linfield is 1-5-1.  With the team traveling to play the Whits next weekend, PLU will have to step up its game.

Whitworth 4 - Lewis & Clark

Whitworth has been weak enough offensively that they were definitely not going to let a goal or two against Lewis & Clark make the complacent.  They only were up 1-0 at the half, but scored in the 63rd, 73rd, and 83rd minutes.

Puget Sound 2 - Pacific 1

Puget Sound rebounds from a bad 3-2 loss to Lindfield on Friday to beat Pacific with two early second half goals.

[Kuiper]

After beating Whittier, Pomona-Pitzer jumps up to 4th in the Region X rankings

Region X - Poll 5 - October 7, 2025
Rank    School    Prev    W-L-T
1    Trinity University (Texas)    NR    9-1-0
2    Southwestern University    NR    10-0-2
3    Colorado College    NR    6-0-4
4    Pomona-Pitzer Colleges    NR    5-1-2
5    Whitman College    NR    7-0-3
6    University of Mary Hardin-Baylor    NR    9-1-2
7    Whittier College    NR    6-1-1
8    University of Saint Thomas (Texas)    NR    7-1-1

[BTXCru18]

First edition of 2025 NPI rankings for Region X. Strange that it currently has Trinity & Southwestern ranked in region VI. That has to be a typo, right? Posting an *adjusted* top 10 that includes both of them.


Southwestern            55.844      10-0-2
Trinity (TX)           55.838      9-1   
Colorado Col.           54.684      6-0-4
Mary Hardin-Baylor   54.421      9-1-2
Whitman                   53.406      7-0-2
St. Thomas (TX)      52.874      5-1-1
Whittier           52.124      6-1-2
Pomona-Pitzer           52.120      4-1-2
Concordia (TX)           51.787      5-2-3
Texas Lutheran           51.165      5-3-2

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity and Southwestern are officially members of NCAA Region VI because that's where the SAA lands for soccer.   Same thing now happens in other sports like volleyball and probably just about any sport that has ten regions instead of six (football).    I guess someone needs to tell the USC.

Edit:  I pinged them on Xitter, we'll see if anything changes.

[BTXCru18]

Trinity and Southwestern are officially members of NCAA Region VI because that's where the SAA lands for soccer.   Same thing now happens in other sports like volleyball and probably just about any sport that has ten regions instead of six (football).    I guess someone needs to tell the USC.

Edit:  I pinged them on Xitter, we'll see if anything changes.

Interesting, I had not heard that. Not a new phenomenon, but the UAA and C2C span multiple regions. I suppose in those examples it's more than just 2 regions represented though.