Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[D3Navy]

Anyone who has watched Knutson over his career knows how dangerous he is.  Honoring his ability to score opens up opportunities for others (Sam Theiss principally) and Knutson makes the most of it.  He is sticky with the ball and has eyes in the back of his head.  He also has an uncanny ability to recognize when a foul is coming.

An incredibly fun player to watch who should play a huge role through the NCAA tournament.

[Kuiper]

Anyone who has watched Knutson over his career knows how dangerous he is.  Honoring his ability to score opens up opportunities for others (Sam Theiss principally) and Knutson makes the most of it.  He is sticky with the ball and has eyes in the back of his head.  He also has an uncanny ability to recognize when a foul is coming.

An incredibly fun player to watch who should play a huge role through the NCAA tournament.

Totally agree and that wasn't meant to be a knock on Knutsen.  I was just noting that it was odd to see that in a press release.  If anything, my comment was prompted by the fact that Sharma's Defensive Player of the Year award might have been more for his offensive production than for his defensive play exclusively.  Really, it would probably be more accurate to call Knutsen and Sharma co-MVPs in the league because of their impact on the game as a whole.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC preview of Thursday night games

Pomona-Pitzer @ Redlands 7 pm

The two teams played twice already this season, on Sept. 13 and Oct. 8, and tied 2-2 both games, which is telling since the first game they played P-P was 4-0-1 and Redlands was 1-3 after its long road trip, while the second game Redlands was in the midst of a 5 game winless streak.  The first game was also at Redlands at night, while the second game was at Pomona during the day on a slower grass field where Redlands often doesn't play as well.  So, the bottom line is the two teams match up pretty well regardless of the circumstances.  Right now, though, Redlands is probably the hotter team.  Zach Darmanyan is back and has been a difference maker and opened up space for Anders Beckton and others.  They are on a 7 game unbeaten streak and a 5 game winning streak.  They aren't as dominant as years past and they haven't had a single shutout all season, but they have played just enough defense to limit teams to a goal.  Pomona-Pitzer has been a little more up and down this year, but has won the last two games by identical 2-0 scores.  An interesting stat is that Pomona-Pitzer has scored first in both games the teams have played.  Redlands seems to play with more energy coming from behind and P-P has had trouble holding onto leads.

La Verne @ Occidental

Oxy is coming into this game on a three game winning streak, but the one loss before that streak began was a 1-0 loss to La Verne at Oxy on Oxy's Senior Night.  In the one other time the two teams played, they tied 3-3 after Oxy held a 2-0 lead from the 36th until the 73rd minutes, before allowing three ULV goals over an 8 minute stretch.  Oxy was bailed out by a Devin Bening tying goal with 13 seconds left in the game.  The key for Occidental is corner kicks.  They have both a height advantage and get strong service.  The problem is that when they don't hit on their offensive corners, they are vulnerable to counter attacks with their bigs in the opponent's box.  As in the Chapman game, La Verne's GK, Hector Duenas-Pena could be the deciding factor.  Oxy has had some good goalkeeping, but they've played four different keepers, with three of them starting at least three games as they searched for the right player.  Carlos Abram has taken the starting spot during Oxy's run to 1st in the SCIAC, but he doesn't have a ton of experience as he has only played 9 games over two years.

[Kuiper]

ASC semifinals preview

Howard Payne @ Mary Hardin-Baylor at 7 pm central

If ASC wasn't down to a 4 team league this year before reinforcements arrive for 2026, Howard Payne (NPI #374) wouldn't be anywhere near a conference semifinals.  They are 1-12-3 and have been outscored 39-11 this season.  Plus, this game is being played at UMHB, where the Cru beat Howard Payne 6-0 on 9/27.  Having said that, HP has improved a little since then.  They beat Hardin-Simmons 2-0 the next game for their only win of the season and they only lost 2-1 to UMHB when the game was played at Howard Payne on 10/18.  If Howard Payne fans want any further straws to grasp, UMHB ended the regular season on a slight downturn, losing to Trinity 3-1 and tying Hardin-Simmons 2-2.  Still, it would take a monumental turn of events for Mary Hardin-Baylor to lose this game.  They know they need to win the ASC and can't rely on an at-large bid after falling to #60 in the NPI.  I expect UMHB will come out flying, bury HP early, and then rest up their starters for the ASC final.

Hardin-Simmons v. East Texas Baptist at 1 pm central

This should be a much more competitive match than the other ASC semifinal game.  The two teams tied 2-2 on 10/1 and then H-S won 3-2 on 10/17.  H-S edged out ETBU for second seed with a 2-2-2 conference record, compared to 2-3-1 for ETBU, but H-S was unbeaten the second time through the conference, while ETBU's only win in its second pass was against Howard Payne.  If H-S lets it turn into a shooting match, ETBU might have the edge.  They've scored 44 goals compared to 25 for H-S.  Hardin-Simmons relies upon CM Benny Lube (6 assists) to set up F James Webb (7 goals), while ETBU has a more diversified attack, with 6 players scoring 4 goals or more and 8 scoring at least 3 goals.  My guess is H-S will try to stay more organized and disciplined defensively and wait for opportunities to exploit ETBU on the counter and in transition.

[Kuiper]

SCAC quarterfinal games on Thursday

Hendrix v. Austin at 5 pm Central

Austin just beat Hendrix 3-1 on 10/24 in a game where Hendrix generally led on all offensive stats, but Austin was more clinical in front of goal.  It scored in the 8th minute, which allowed it to play the low block and counter attack/transition game that it uses to generate most of its offense.

LeTourneau v. Concordia TX at 8 pm Central

LeTourneau and Concordia tied 1-1 in their only meeting, but that was so early in the season (9/26) that I'm not sure it sheds much light on this matchup.  LeTourneau really turned it on toward the end of the season, going 4-2 the last six games, including a 1-0 loss to Colorado College.  Concordia comes in with a 4 game unbeaten streak and it ended the season with a tough 0-0 draw against Texas Lutheran.  Neither team scores a ton of goals and both teams have fairly stout defenses.  If it comes down to goalkeeper play, Concordia might have the advantage.  Concordia's Leonel Cuellar leads the SCAC in Saves and was second in save percentage at .829.

[Kuiper]

FINAL:  Hardin-Simmons 2 - East Texas Baptist 0

H-S takes care of business, scoring in the 3rd minute off a great move and pass by Benny Lube from the right side of the box that eluded the ETBU defender and goalkeeper to find Korbin Raef for the tap-in. They got an insurance goal in the 84th minute off an own goal.  Hardin-Simmons hasn't had the best season, but they have gotten better as the season moved on and they advance to the ASC finals.

[Kuiper]

The SCIAC announced its men's soccer awards

Devin Bening of Occidental College and Niclas Ulrich of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges landed the SCIAC Athlete of the Year awards for 2025 atop the All-Conference teams.

Bening led the line as a sophomore for a potent Oxy offense that led the conference in goals scored with 27, seven more than the runners-up. The forward topped the individual conference scoring chart with eight goals in 11 games on a conversation rate of more than 25 percent with more than 50 percent of shots on target hitting the back of the net.

Ulrich's impact on both ends of the field was crucial in the Sagehens climbing out from ninth place last year to finish a single point shy of sharing the regular season title. Not only did Pomona-Pitzer surrendered the fewest goals in the league at a mere 1.0 per game, but the center back also recorded three goals and three assists to top the team with nine points.

Newcomer of the Year recognition went to Shaw Nishizawa, a formidable 1-on-1 defender who led California Lutheran Unievrsity in minutes played while also holding the rare honor of being voted team captain as a rookie.

Ishaan Mantripragada of Caltech was recognized with the Award of Distinction, which recognizes a senior for examplary achievement through their higher education experience including significant contributions to their school and serving their community. It emphasizes sportsmanship, balancing athletic excellence with academic achievement, modeling positive behavior and inclusion. A two-year captain and superb mentor for younger players and compatriots alike, Mantripragada has showcased model behavior on and off the field, earning First Team All-SCIAC honors all four years while never receiving more than one yellow card in a single season. A computer science major and data science minor with a 4.0 grade-point average, the senior's research experience includes working to improve Phase Contrast MRI reconstruction using deep learning at Stanford University, an AI intern at cybersecurity start-up Balbix, and software engineer at LinkedIn. On campus, Mantripragada is the Vice President of his House and a teaching assistant in the computer science department.

First-year head coach Clint Moore and the Sagehens bench were dubbed the Coaching Staff of the Year after more than doubling last season's point total from nine (six points out of the SCIAC Tournament picture) to 20 and a single point out of tying for the regular season title. The defense improved from surrendering 26 goals in 12 games to allowing just one per game in a 2025 season that proved to be the most competitive top-to-bottom on record in the conference.

Caltech and Oxy tied for the conference lead with three First Team honorees, while the Tigers also tied the University of La Verne with five total selections. The University of Redlands landed a pair of players on each team, followed by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges picking up three Second Team bids. Whittier College enjoyed two First Team selections while Chapman University had one honoree on each squad and CLU picked up a single First Team choice. Mantripragada is the only four-time First Team honoree in this class, though two others received All-Conference recognition all four years as teammate Etienne Casanova was tabbed to a third First Team while Ulrich returned to the First Team. Oxy's Vicente Navarro and Anders Beckton of Redlands each repeated on the First Team, which makes for a third career All-SCIAC honor for the former as it does for Whittier's Rowan Slater, who made the step up from Second Team last season along with teammate Jack Hindmarsh, 2024 Newcomer of the Year Matthew Luk (Caltech) and Connor Claborn (UR). Oxy's Aden Aley, Chapman's Alex Glynn and John Laidlaw (CMS) all repeated on the Second Team.
 
First Team All-SCIAC

Name    Institution    Year    Position    Hometown

Devin Bening    Occidental    So.    F    Woodland Hills, Calif.
Niclas Ulrich    Pomona-Pitzer    Sr.    CB    Chevy Chase, Md.
Hector Duenas-Pena    La Verne    Sr.    GK    Moreno Valley, Calif.
Cormac Galvin    Chapman    Sr.    CB    Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cooper Gersch    Occidental    Jr.    CB    Mercer Island, Wash.
Jack Hindmarsh    Whittier    So.    LB    Kristianstad, Sweden
Joshua McCown    La Verne    Sr.    CB    Venice, Calif.
Etienne Casanova    Caltech    Sr.    CAM    Saratoga, Calif.
Connor Claborn    Redlands    Sr.    M    Santa Clarita, Calif.
Vicente Navarro    Occidental    Sr.    CDM    Pacoima, Calif.
Rowan Slater    Whittier    Sr.    CAM    Fort Collins, Colo.
Anders Beckton    Redlands    Jr.    F    Seattle, Wash.
Reese Kane    Cal Lutheran    Sr.    F    Scottsdale, Ariz.
Matthew Luk    Caltech    So.    F    Bel Air, Md.
Ishaan Mantripragada    Caltech    Jr.    F    Saratoga, Calif.

Second Team All-SCIAC

Name    Institution    Year    Position    Hometown

Alex Glynn    Chapman    Sr.    GK    San Diego, Calif.
Chris Chow    Pomona-Pitzer    Sr.    D    Hong Kong
Benjamin Evans    Redlands    Jr.    CB    Bend, Ore.
Atticus English    CMS    Fy.    FB    San Francisco, Calif.
Zeno Bang    CMS    So.    D    Ramsey, N.J.
Aiden Aley    Occidental    Sr.    M    Ross, Calif.
Alexander Bastidas    La Verne    Sr.    M    Pasadena, Calif.
Zachary Darmanyan    Redlands    Jr.    CAM    San Diego, Calif.
Aidan MacLennan    Pomona-Pitzer    Jr.    M    Bend, Ore.
Kevin Arreola    La Verne    Sr.    F    Pacoima, Calif.
John Laidlaw    CMS    Sr.    F    Encinitas, Calif.
Ayden Rieke-Wey    Occidental    So.    F    Seattle, Wash.
Diego Soto    La Verne    Sr.    F    Baldwin Park, Calif.

[Kuiper]

End of Regulation:  Austin 1 - Hendrix 1

Austin held a 1-0 lead for most of the game, but Hendrix tied it up in the 73rd minute and neither team could find the game-winner in regulation.  On to OT!

End of OT:  Austin 1 - Hendrix 1

On to PKs!

FINAL:  Austin College 1 (3) - Hendrix 1 (1)

Austin College wins in PKs after its GK saves the first Hendrix shot and then the third and fourth Hendrix players shot the ball over and wide right, giving Austin the victory.

[Kuiper]

It's still 0-0 early in the Redlands - Pomona-Pitzer game, but one fun aspect of the FloSports stream is that long time LA Galaxy play-by-play man, Joe Tutino, is on the call for the game

UDPATE:  Redlands 1 - Pomona-Pitzer 0 (26th minute)

Zach Darmanyan with an absolute rocket left-footed side volley to the right side of the net scores the goal for Redlands.

UPDATE:  Redlands 2 - Pomona-Pitzer 0

Freshman Nicolas Janssen scores his first collegiate goal for Redlands on a breakaway in the 76th minute when Beckton and Darmanyan were on the bench.  Pretty impressive to beat two defenders and put the goal through the goalkeeper's legs before he was set.

UPDATE:  Redlands 2 - Pomona-Pitzer 1

P-P gets a great cross to the back post that is headed to the far side of the goal with about 30 seconds left in the game.  Probably too little too late, but it was coming

FINAL:  Redlands 2 - Pomona-Pitzer 1

For all the topsy-turvy nature of this SCIAC season, with upstarts Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer looking like they may be announcing a new order, the cream rises to the top.  Redlands is back in the finals for Ralph Perez' last hurrah and they will be playing Occidental in a match between two of the traditional SCIAC powers.

[Kuiper]

La Verne 1 - Occidental 0 (23rd minute)

ULV takes the early lead.  Surprised to see Casey Scott in goal for Oxy. He's played the least of all the Occidental goalkeepers this season.  This is only his second start all year.

UPDATE:  La Verne 1 - Occidental 1 (31st minute)

Oxy gets one back in the 27th minute to equalize as it has been peppering the La Verne goal with 10 shots already.

UPDATE:  Occidental 2 - La Verne 1 (Half)

A ULV defender fails to clear a ball sent into the box, heading it backward, and Elijah Edelman slams the bouncing ball into the net for the go-ahead goal seconds before halftime.

UPDATE:  Occidental 3 - La Verne 1

Oxy's Tyler Na-Nakornpanom scores in the 69th minute for the Tigers to provide some cushion

UPDATE:  Occidental 4 - La Verne 1

Na-Nakornpanom scores a second goal 6 minutes later in the 75th minute to continue the route.  La Verne is falling apart as it chases the game and runs out of gas after going 110 minutes and PKs just a few days ago.

FINAL:  Occidental 4 - La Verne 1

Oxy dominated from start to finish, out-shooting ULV 28 to 13.  It will host Redlands in a match that should draw a huge crowd to Oxy's stadium in Eagle Rock.

The two teams that went east before conference play started and had a rough time of it get the ship righted and make the conference finals. 

[Kuiper]

Mary Hardin-Baylor 6 - Howard Payne 0

As I said in the preview of this match, I expected UMHB to come out flying, score some early goals, and then rest their starters for the final.  Mission accomplished.  They scored in the 4th and 7th minutes to take a 2-0 lead at half and then knocked in 4 more in the second half.  Only one Cru defender played the full 90, a few other defenders and the GK played into the 70th minute or so, but every other starter played a half or less and 23 players in all got minutes as UMHB demolished Howard Payne, out-shooting them 22-4 and setting up a re-match with rival Hardin-Simmons

[Kuiper]

Berry 1 - Trinity 0 (19th minute)

Against the run of play, Berry gets a PK on a shot that hit the hand of a Trinity defender and Berry's Jack Rauston buries it.  Trinity plays from behind, something they haven't had to do that often this year

HALF:  Berry 1 - Trinity 0

Trinity still controlling most of possession and has outshot Berry 7-2 with 5 corners to 0 for Berry, but the Tigers can't find the net.  They did get a near-PK call, but the foul was ruled to be just inches outside the box.  Berry may be developing confidence as the game wears on, but it's hard to defend all the time.

UPDATE:  Berry 1 - Trinity 1

Trinity scores on a PK of its own as Trinity defender Daniel Urquidi is tripped up in the box after making a darting run forward

UPDATE:  Berry 1 - Trinity 1 at the end of regulation

On to OT!

UPDATE:  Still tied 1-1.  Trinity out-shooting Berry 16 to 2, but only had 1 shot in the first OT period.  Everybody is running out of gas.  On to 2OT!

UPDATE:  Trinity had a bunch of chances in the 2OT, but Berry and its keeper were up to the task.  Trinity's keeper hasn't had to make a single save, while Berry's has 9.  Sometimes that can give a keeper an edge in PKs, other times it can leave a keeper weary.  We'll see which is the case here.

On to PKs!

FINAL:  Berry 1 (5) - Trinity 1 (3)

Turns out Berry GK Cherry was better of the two keepers, saving Adam Knutsen's opener.  Trinity's keeper was kind of lost in the PKs, but I never blame the keeper on these things.

Teams on the bubble will be rooting on Southwestern.  This might be a blessing in disguise for Trinity, which looks like it could use the rest, but it certainly doesn't help if it means they have to travel earlier.

[Ejay]

Those Berry kickers were cool as cucumbers. 

[Kuiper]

Meanwhile, in the SCAC tournament semifinals at the Round Rock soccer complex (which, ironically, is about 20 minutes away from the SAA tournament on Southwestern's campus)

Colorado College 1 - Austin College 0

Oliver Ramirez scores in the 34th minute to give Colorado College the lead.

UPDATE:  Colorado College 2 - Austin College 0

Teddy Opler adds a second goal in the 42nd minute as CC continues to dominate in this match

FINAL:  Colorado College 2 - Austin College 0

Although CC more or less wrapped this one up in the first half, they played very few subs and even those didn't play many minutes.  That's about the only critique I have from CC's performance, which might affect them in the final (although perhaps their "altitude training" makes subs unnecessary!).  Austin didn't offer much in the way of offense except perhaps one flurry in the first half off of a dangerous cross, but they played relatively stout defense. 

[SimpleCoach]

Berry 1 - Trinity 0 (19th minute)

Against the run of play, Berry gets a PK on a shot that hit the hand of a Trinity defender and Berry's Jack Rauston buries it.  Trinity plays from behind, something they haven't had to do that often this year

HALF:  Berry 1 - Trinity 0

Trinity still controlling most of possession and has outshot Berry 7-2 with 5 corners to 0 for Berry, but the Tigers can't find the net.  They did get a near-PK call, but the foul was ruled to be just inches outside the box.  Berry may be developing confidence as the game wears on, but it's hard to defend all the time.

UPDATE:  Berry 1 - Trinity 1

Trinity scores on a PK of its own as Trinity defender Daniel Urquidi is tripped up in the box after making a darting run forward

UPDATE:  Berry 1 - Trinity 1 at the end of regulation

On to OT!

UPDATE:  Still tied 1-1.  Trinity out-shooting Berry 16 to 2, but only had 1 shot in the first OT period.  Everybody is running out of gas.  On to 2OT!

UPDATE:  Trinity had a bunch of chances in the 2OT, but Berry and its keeper were up to the task.  Trinity's keeper hasn't had to make a single save, while Berry's has 9.  Sometimes that can give a keeper an edge in PKs, other times it can leave a keeper weary.  We'll see which is the case here.

On to PKs!

FINAL:  Berry 1 (5) - Trinity 1 (3)

Turns out Berry GK Cherry was better of the two keepers, saving Adam Knutsen's opener.  Trinity's keeper was kind of lost in the PKs, but I never blame the keeper on these things.

Teams on the bubble will be rooting on Southwestern.  This might be a blessing in disguise for Trinity, which looks like it could use the rest, but it certainly doesn't help if it means they have to travel earlier.

What a game.

SC.