Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

PREVIEW:  Hardin-Simmons @ Trinity at 4 pm Central

Hardin-Simmons has a 6-8-3 overall record and a 2-2-2 record in conference.  It earned the AQ from the ASC by tying Mary Hardin-Baylor 1-1 and advancing on PKs in the ASC tournament final.  At a NPI ranking of 231, and with a record below .500, Hardin-Simmons has to have one of the weakest resumes in the tournament.  On the bright side, it is coming into the tournament on a 5 game unbeaten streak, including two ties against Mary Hardin-Baylor, so advancing isn't a fluke.

Trinity has a 15-1-1 overall record and a 7-0 record in the SAA regular season.  Problem is that it has a 0-0-1 record in the SAA conference tournament, which is where it lost in the semifinals to Berry in PKs.  It is ranked #12 in the NPI.  It comes into the tournament with a 10 game unbeaten streak (a 9 game winning streak before the Berry tie).  Its last loss was a 3-2 loss to Christopher Newport @ Hardin-Simmons where Trinity was down 3-1 when Max Salinas received a straight red card and Trinity was still able to claw back a goal in the last 24 minutes.  So, while Trinity was frustrated in the Berry game, it should still have plenty of confidence (and a day more rest, for whatever that's worth).

Furthermore, Trinity and Hardin-Simmons played each other on 9/18 at Hardin-Simmons the day before the CNU game and Trinity won 2-0, outshooting H-S 18-3.  Among common opponents (Schreiner, Texas Lutheran, Concordia TX, Christopher Newport and UMHB), Trinity went 4-1 and H-S went 1-3-2.  Trinity is also 26-2-3 all-time against Hardin-Simmons and is 18-1-1 against them at home.

Bottom line is that Trinity should be heavily favored in this game, especially at home.  The one caveat to that is that H-S knows how to play Trinity.  It knows it needs to stay compact, play defensively, and cede possession around the perimeter like Berry did against Trinity in the SAA semifinals.  I'm just not sure Hardin-Simmons has the players who can stick with Knutsen, Theiss, et al for Trinity for 90 minutes of passing and moving in the box, or that can consistently defend Trinity on corners, which is what you inevitably concede out of a compact, low block, set up in front of your goal.

[Kuiper]

PREVIEW:  Whitman v. Texas Lutheran @ Trinity TX at 6:30 PM Central

Whitman comes into the game undefeated on the year with a 14-0-6 record overall and a 13-0-3 record in the NWC.  Winning the AQ in the NWC is no fluke.  They don't use a conference tournament where one bad bounce can knock a team out.  Every team plays each other twice in a home-and-away series and the team at the top gets the AQ.  It did, however, beat the #2 team in the NWC in Pacific Lutheran in the last game of the regular season to clinch the championship, so Whitman does have some experience with winning in a must-win game.  Whitman is ranked #60 in the NPI despite being undefeated mostly because of its weak strength-of-schedule (the NWC is pretty weak) and its measly 0.699 in QWB points.  Out-of-conference, it tied Colorado College and Mary Hardin-Baylor, both of which lost in their conference tournament finals and didn't get at-large bids, and beat Cal Lutheran, which finished last in the SCIAC.  So, not a single one of its results came against an NCAA tournament team. 

Texas Lutheran is 12-4-3 overall and 8-1-2 in the SCAC.  It finished #2 in the SCAC to Colorado College, but beat them in the finals of the conference tournament to earn the AQ.  It comes in on an 8 game unbeaten streak, with its last loss to Colorado College.  It is ranked #97 in the NPI in part because the best team it beat (other than Colorado College in the conference final) was Hendrix, which was #198 on the NPI.  It does play a lot of good teams close, losing 1-0 to Trinity, Southwestern and 2-1 to UMHB.

These two teams are a study in contrasting styles.  Whitman scores 2.45 goals per game and has conceded 21, while TLU only scores 1.63 goals per game, but has only conceded 12.  Whitman has a lot of skilled players that can score in bunches, but they sometimes appear to lack the grit or motivation to really push their opponents, while TLU has grit and motivation, but sometimes lack that skill to put the ball in the back of the net, like in the first half against Colorado in the SCAC finals when TLU came out on the front foot and outshot CC 16-0, but scoring none.  Whitman often fell behind this year to weak teams before they got their acts together and rallied for wins, while TLU is pretty good at defending a lead (the one exception was against Austin College when they gave up a 2-0 lead by allowing goals in the 86th and 87th minutes).  I expect Whitman won't have as much trouble finding motivation in this game, but if they falter, they also may not have the ability to overcome a strong TLU defense playing close to home in a familiar environment.   

[Kuiper]

The Northwest Conference Announced its All Conference Teams

Offensive Player of the Year - Lucas McAllister, Whitman
Defensive Player of the Year - Adrian Valencia, Whitman
Rookie of the Year - Remy Marcks, Whitman
Coach of the Year - Jose Cedeno, Whitman

2025 Northwest Conference All-Conference Team
First Team
Pos / Name                                                                                    Class            Hometown / High School
GK – Niclas Isensee, Whitman ........................................................ Jr                Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah
D – Landon Sexton, Pacific Lutheran# ............................................ Jr                Olympia, Wash. / North Thurston
D – Adrian Valencia, Whitman ......................................................... Sr               San Jose, Calif. / Ace Charter
D – Alvin Kamau, Pacific Lutheran*.................................................. Jr               Nairobi, Kenya / High Mowing School
M – Rhys Foote, Puget Sound#........................................................ Jr               Palo Alto, Calif. / Palo Alto
M – Lucas McAllister, Whitman* ...................................................... Sr               Brier, Wash. / Bishop Blanchet
M – Connor O'Brien, Pacific Lutheran ............................................. Jr                Renton, Wash. / Liberty
M – Alex Coope, Pacific Lutheran ................................................... Sr              Tacoma, Wash. / Stadium
F – Owen Bliskis, Pacific Lutheran.................................................... Jr               Spanaway, Wash. / Stadium
F – Yuta Shimazu, Pacific Lutheran ................................................. Jr                Kobe, Japan / Hotoku Gakuen
F – Remy Marcks, Whitman ............................................................. Fr                Tokyo, Japan / Lycée Français International de Tokyo
 
 Second Team
Pos / Name                                                                                    Class            Hometown / High School
GK – Gio Aguilar Gutierrez, Pacific Lutheran ................................... So             Spanaway, Wash. / Spanaway Lake
D – Pablo Gonzalez Jr., Whitman ..................................................... Jr              Albany, Wash. / Albany
D – Alexander Perez Hernandez, Whitman....................................... Jr             Salem, Ore. / North Marion
D – Johnny Finnegan, Whitworth....................................................... Sr             Spokane, Wash. / Gonzaga Prep
M – Riki Kobayashi, Whitman............................................................ Jr             Lynwood, Wash. / Mountlake Terrace
M – Jude Clum-Stockton, Whitman.................................................... Sr             New Orleans, La. / Lusher
M – Rory McKee, Willamette ............................................................. Sr             Bend, Ore. / Summit
F – Dominic Gusman, Whitworth* ..................................................... Gr            Aiea, Hawaii / Punahou
F – Ky Iliev, Willamette ...................................................................... Fr            Edmonds, Wash. / Kamiak
F – Ty Brunner, Pacific Lutheran........................................................ So            Lake Tapps, Wash. / Sumner
F – Fernando Lopez-Vega, Whitman ................................................. Jr             Pasco, Wash. / Chiawana

Third Team
Pos / Name                                                                                    Class            Hometown / High School
GK – Kobi Miyamoto, Pacific (Ore.) ................................................. Fr                Mililani, Hawaii / Mililani
D – Kody Carmel, Puget Sound%..................................................... Sr                Federal Way, Wash. / Decatur
D – Dylan Ray, Willamette ............................................................... Sr                Torrance, Calif. / West
D – Kilinahe Waring, George Fox#................................................... Sr                Honolulu, Hawai'i / Kamehameha
D – Aedan Carroll, Linfield................................................................ Sr               Sacramento, Calif. / Christian Brothers
M – Misha Turchaninov, Pacific Lutheran......................................... Jr                Anchorage, Alaska / West Anchorage
M – Ross Vargo, Linfield .................................................................. Jr                Sacramento, Calif. / Sacramento Country
M – Brenden Pineda, Willamette ..................................................... So               San Mateo, Calif. / Aragon
F – Kevin Serrano, Whitman% ........................................................ So               Portland, Ore. / La Salle Catholic College Prep
F – William Miranda Ortiz, Whitman................................................. Fr                Las Vegas, N.V. / Cristo Rey St. Viator
F – Eugene Peltier, George Fox ...................................................... Sr                Seattle, Wash. / O'Dea
 
* 1st team All-NWC in 2024; # 2nd team All-NWC in 2024; % Honorable Mention All-NWC in 2024
 

[Kuiper]

The Business of Small College Athletics interviewed Northwest Conference Commissioner Shana Levine and Asst Commissioner Abby Jarvis at the 2025 NACDA Convention

It's worth watching if you are interested in how an island conference like the NWC operates and survives and the challenges it faces, including the lack of non-conference D3 competition anywhere nearby.  As they say, one challenge it does not face is losing a member because it moved to another D3 conference!