Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Ron Boerger]

I'd think that if UMHB, 74th in NPI after games of 10/21, takes another loss they'd be unlikely to get an at-large bid.  The next highest in the ASC is ETBU at 212; Scheiner, 260, is fourth one spot below HSU so even further conference wins for UMHB aren't going to move their needle much.

[Kuiper]

I'd think that if UMHB, 74th in NPI after games of 10/21, takes another loss they'd be unlikely to get an at-large bid.  The next highest in the ASC is ETBU at 212; Scheiner, 260, is fourth one spot below HSU so even further conference wins for UMHB aren't going to move their needle much.

Probably true.  I was thinking that if UMHB won out and then lost in the finals it might still be in bubble contention just from dropping bad wins given that it is already at 10 wins with 3 regular season games and as many as two games in the ASC tournament.  If that's unlikely to move things enough, then Schreiner v. H-S this Saturday and UMHB next Thursday is even more consequential.  Win both and Schreiner could sneak in and put themselves in a great position to win the ASC bid.

[Kuiper]

Big victory on the road for Trinity!

FINAL:  Trinity 4 - Sewanee 1

Trinity finally unleashes its offensive prowess as Eloy Ferrer scores a brace and the team turns a tight 1-0 lead at the half into a 4-1 blowout.  Sewanee had chances, but Trinity was able to put theirs in the back of the net.

This was #49 v. #50 in NPI rankings, so Trinity gets some Quality Win Bonus points as well as the win and pushes them up to 9 adjusted wins, which gets them closer to being able to drop some wins against weaker opponents.

For SAA purposes, Trinity separates itself from Sewanee and jumps Berry, and Southwestern at least temporarily, into 2nd in the SAA standings.

[Kuiper]

I don't follow the NORTH as much in this thread, but this result caught my eye

FINAL:  Wisconsin-Superior 3 - Augsburg 2

The result isn't that surprising, but Seth Davidson had his second hat trick.  That ups his nation-leading goal tally to 24 goals to go along with 9 assists! Wow!

[Kuiper]

Fantastic finish in the Concordia TX - Ozarks game

FINAL:  Concordia 2 - Ozarks 1

Concordia led 1-0 from the 42nd minute onward, but they were called for a PK in the 83rd minute and Ozarks converted.  With about 3 minutes remaining, Ozarks fouled a Concordia play just outside the right side of the box and Concordia converted what looked like a game-winning goal.  The ref waved it off, however, for offside.  It looked like Ozarks was going to be able to hold one for the tie, but Concordia had a throw-in with about 13 seconds left and about 1/3 of the way from the Ozarks box and the Concordia winger manged to collect the ball, dribble through, and score as the stadium announcer hit "1" on the countdown to secure the victory.  Concordia stays unbeaten in the SCAC!

With Colorado College beating Dallas 6-0 late in the game, it looks like Concordia will remain in second place, but Concordia keeps pace with CC.

[Kuiper]

A few other results out of Region X that caught my eye tonight:

Southwestern 1 - Maryville 0

Southwestern keeps winning, but they definitely aren't doing it with a lot on the offensive end.  They score in the 15th minute and hold on for their fifth 1-0 victory of 2026.  You can't argue with their results (12-1-1 and 4-0-1 in the SAA), but I don't know what their offensive plan is if they ever fall behind in a game by more than a goal.

Colorado College 8 - University of Dallas 1

I think it's safe to say that Colorado College brought their shooting boots to the field tonight.  They scored 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the game alone.

LeTourneau 3 - St. Thomas 2

St. Thomas was up 2-0 in the 86th minute and LeTourneau scored 3 goals in the last 4 minutes (85:57, 87.59, 89.17) to steal the game.  Impressive comeback LeTourneau and devastating meltdown by UST.  LeTourneau is now in 3rd place in the SCAC with two very winnable home games left (Centenary and Austin).

Texas Lutheran 6 - Hendrix 0

I can't remember the last time TLU scored 6 goals.  They beat Hardin-Simmons 5-1 on 9/18 and then scored 5 goals in total over the next 7 games.  They only scored 13 goals all season coming into this game.

[SimpleCoach]

Big victory on the road for Trinity!

FINAL:  Trinity 4 - Sewanee 1

Trinity finally unleashes its offensive prowess as Eloy Ferrer scores a brace and the team turns a tight 1-0 lead at the half into a 4-1 blowout.  Sewanee had chances, but Trinity was able to put theirs in the back of the net.

This was #49 v. #50 in NPI rankings, so Trinity gets some Quality Win Bonus points as well as the win and pushes them up to 9 adjusted wins, which gets them closer to being able to drop some wins against weaker opponents.

For SAA purposes, Trinity separates itself from Sewanee and jumps Berry, and Southwestern at least temporarily, into 2nd in the SAA standings.

This is the Trinity I was expecting to see all year...

SC.

[Ron Boerger]

Texas Lutheran 6 - Hendrix 0

I can't remember the last time TLU scored 6 goals.  They beat Hardin-Simmons 5-1 on 9/18 and then scored 5 games in total over the next 7 games.  They only scored 13 goals all season coming into this game.

According to their game writeup (amazing how fast these get put up when teams win) it's the first time they put six in goal since the last game of the 2022 season. 

This is the Trinity I was expecting to see all year...

SC.

Seemed to be a typical "score once, give up a goal late" effort that we've seen so many times this season until Jayden Schell stopped a PK early in the second; five minutes later they scored that second goal that has been so sorely lacking.   Also, according to their writeup, Trinity moved Daniel Urquidi into an attacking role.

[Kuiper]

Some NWC scores this afternoon that caught my eye:

Whitman 3 - Pacific 0

Whitman broke up a 0-0 game at halftime with three second half goals to start separating itself from Pacific Lutheran at the top of the NWC

Pacific Lutheran 1 - Willamette 1

Another tight 0-0 NWC game, but this one lasted late into the 2nd half.  Willamette scored what looked like the game-winning goal in the 84th minute, but PLU salvaged the tie with a goal in the 87th minute.

With 4 games left in the season (and no conference tourney), Whitman has a 2 point lead over PLU and Puget Sound is a distant third. 

[Kuiper]

Big upset in the SCIAC!!

Pomona-Pitzer 2 - Redlands 1

Redlands had a 1-0 lead at halftime, but Luke Wyatt received a red card in the 47th minute and Redlands had to play virtually the entire 2nd half down a man.  In a game at Pomona in the hot afternoon sun, they weren't able to muster the energy to keep Pomona down, which scored a tying goal about 5 minutes later and the game-winner about 7 minutes after that and Redlands couldn't generate a comeback (or even a shot on goal)

Redlands remains in first in the SCIAC despite suffering their first loss, but La Verne (which tied Chapman today) is currently a game back and Pomona jumps over Oxy to 5th.  CMS' game tonight against Caltech takes on added significance as it can creep even closer to the SCIAC lead.

[Kuiper]

An even BIGGER UPSET in the SCIAC!!!

Caltech 5 - CMS 1

CMS had no answers tonight for Matthew Luk, who scored a hat trick, including (1) a crazy goal where he dribbled past and through 3-4 defenders at the top of the box to shoot a left-footed curler around the last defender and inside the post AND (2) a goal from just past the midfield line where he was dribbling to his right while being pursued by a CMS defender, saw the GK was off his line, and launched a ball over the GK's head from the right side of the field that snuck in the left side of the goal.  Either of those goals could easily be in contention for goal of the year.

More importantly, how the heck did CMS lose to Caltech at home?!  Caltech entered the game 1-8-1 in conference play and was on a 7 game losing streak after losing 5-0 to La Verne last Saturday and 3-2 to Whittier on Wednesday.  During the 7 game losing streak, Caltech only scored 6 goals combined and they scored 5 in one night v. CMS.  Plus, the last time the two teams played, CMS won 2-0.  CMS had everything to play for and it was their senior night with all of their family and friends in attendance, while Caltech had absolutely nothing to play for other than to finish out the season and I'm not sure they had any fans of their team in attendance.   

To be fair, there was one sequence that could have turned the game around when CMS was awarded a PK, James Gomez took it and hit the cross bar and appeared to head the rebound into the goal. It was waived off, however, because Gomez was called for a foul going for the header and Caltech went off and scored a minute or so later.  A PK conversion would have made the game 3-2, but it was instead 4-1.  Still, this was a game where Caltech wanted it more and won almost every contested ball and laid out for every shot.  They earned the win.

For the SCIAC, CMS loses a chance to move up from 3rd place and could fall if it continues to stumble in the next two games as they have 4-5 teams that could pass them up in that scenario.

[Kuiper]

Not only did Junior Matthew Luk score a hat trick for Caltech in its victory over CMS, but he got an assist, which makes him the All-Time Assist leader for Caltech with 19 assists, edging out Etienne Casanova.

That's both a nice accomplishment and an indication of just how weak Caltech's men's soccer program has been for most of its existence!

[Ron Boerger]

I'll have to look at what just happened by according to live stats, Trinity GK Jayden Schell just scored a goal against Maryville.

(TRI) GOAL scored by Trinity TX Schell,Jayden, bottom center of goal off right foot. [66:28]

Edit:  it wasn't Schell.  It looked like it was Landon Ortega.

[Kuiper]

Some scores that caught my eye in Region X today:

Trinity 3 - Maryville 0

Not a surprising result, but it completes a strong 6 point weekend for Trinity that moves it into a tie for 2nd in the SAA with Rhodes.

Southwestern 2 - Sewanee 1

Southwestern also completes a 6 point weekend to stay ahead of Rhodes and Trinity, but it still doesn't generate the offense to give it a lot of room for error.  Fortunately, its defense is good enough that it usually doesn't need to.  Other than against East Texas Baptist early in the season, it has not given up more than 1 goal in a game this season.  One concerning trend, however, is that it has given up a goal in 3 of the last 4 games after going 8 games without conceding a goal.

Concordia TX 1 - Hendrix 0

Speaking of teams that have trouble scoring and separating much from its opponents, Concordia won by a single goal for the 10th time this season and for the 7th game in a row.  A 7 game winning streak is great, but 7 games of razor thin margins is tough to sustain when the opponents get stronger.  And the opponent is about to get much stronger as Concordia hosts Colorado College next Friday in Round Rock in a battle of the two 7-0 teams in the SCAC.