2024 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Hopkins92]

That was a baller move.

(And the big BIG difference is that guy went all sneak attack. The issue I had with the Hop PK takers is that they spent way too much time over the ball. Got in their own heads.)

[Kuiper]

Former Dickinson GK Andrew Kempe signs a pro contract in Ireland

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG0_0OlPtjv/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

He originally signed with Rhode Island, transferred to Dickinson and played two years and 27 games and then did a grad year at Temple

[Kuiper]

Former Conn College goalkeeper AJ Marcucci has another D3 to the Pros moment as he starts his first game for the New York Red Bulls in a win yesterday!

https://www.amny.com/sports/aj-marcucci-red-bulls-debut-exc-3-19-25/

AJ Marcucci has been forced to ride the bus, as most professional athletes must do, a little longer than most in his journey to the top flight of American soccer. After five years of waiting, his trip finally comes to an end this Saturday when he will man the goal at Sports Illustrated Stadium for his MLS debut as his New York Red Bulls host Toronto FC.

"It's hard to wait as long as I have," Marcucci told amNewYork on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old goalkeeper has developed into a stalwart within New York's system. The No. 67 overall selection of the 2021 MLS SuperDraft out of Connecticut College had made 54 appearances with Red Bulls II — the club's reserve team — recorded 11 clean sheets, and his 185 saves rank second in franchise history.

[Kuiper]

St. Francis moving from D1 to D3 and joining the PAC

https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25/inside-athletics-saint-francis-university-announces-move-from-ncaa-division-i-athletics-to-division-iii-athletics.aspx

Today, Saint Francis University announced a decision by its Board of Trustees that directs the president and the leadership team to pursue a reclassification of its NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program to Division III. The shift in athletics offerings for men's and women's athletic competition would occur concurrent with the 2026-2027 academic year and fall 2026 athletic competition, with the Red Flash participating in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

The university's athletics teams will continue to participate in Division I intercollegiate athletics as part of the Northeast Conference through summer 2026 competition. The university will file the necessary paperwork with the NCAA and has accepted an invitation from the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

"This was not an easy nor a quick decision for the Board of Trustees," stated Chairman and the Very Rev. Joseph Lehman, T.O.R., Ph.D. "The governance associated with intercollegiate athletics has always been complicated and is only growing in complexity based on realities like the transfer portal, pay-for-play, and other shifts that move athletics away from love of the game. For that reason, as a Board, we aim to best provide resources and support to our student-athletes in this changing environment that aligns with our mission, Catholic institution, and our community's expectations."

The Board of Trustees participated in an extensive discussion and review of their options for the future of the university's athletics program and determined that this decision helps Saint Francis to achieve the institution's mission and strategic plan.

Lehman continued, "All of the university's offerings that are a core part of the Saint Francis identity and student experience are reviewed by the Board on an ongoing basis, including intercollegiate athletics. Based on the changes in athletics nationally, it would be a disservice to our student-athletes and athletic department staff not to review and assess how we can best provide the resources necessary for them to be competitive."

President and the Very Rev. Malachi Van Tassell, T.O.R., Ph.D., added, "The Board and I have been concerned about the student-athlete experience for many years. The geography of our conference is huge. Our students travel either to Chicago or to Boston or to points in between. That's a lot of time not spent on campus, developing friendships or in the classroom. This change allows our students to be present on campus and lets their friends attend more of their home and away games. This decision is about creating and maintaining community and allowing our student-athletes to thrive in the classroom and their chosen sport."

Van Tassell stressed, "I want to be clear—we are very proud of our Division I history and success, and our student-athletes. We know this transition may be stressful. We will do everything possible to support our student-athletes, their families, our coaches, and our staff and do right by you."

Saint Francis has established a website with additional information, including a chart that outlines what this decision means for current student-athletes, coaches, and athletic department staff. In addition, anticipated questions are answered online and other questions can be submitted to athletics@francis.edu.

[Hopkins92]

Whoa. My boxed in brain hadn't really considered this, but I wonder how many more schools are going to follow suit.

And as someone that attended one of the last schools allowed to have just one program as D1 and the rest D3, I wonder if the NCAA is going to revisit that rule change.

[Ejay]

At least their men's basketball players will have the memory of their March Madness participation this season.

[Kuiper]

Here's perspective from a men's soccer player at St. Francis about the move:

https://x.com/imcollegesoccer/status/1904728782336123096?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg

DM: I am a current freshman at SFU and I can provide some insight on the schools decision today. We were notified less than a hour after our coaches were told, we were pulled from class for team meetings when the news was broken. It is definitely something very difficult to digest and I feel like we are the beginning of a lot of smaller division one schools that will make the transition to lower levels of play. My opinion is that we cannot financially afford to compete with the bigger division one schools because of the NIL lawsuit. It sucks because our school is such a high athletic population that enrollment will for sure decline.

[Kuiper]

Another loss for the America East conference

Bryn Athyn to End Athletics Program

After a comprehensive review of our financial position, we have made difficult —but essential
—changes to protect our core academic offerings and position the College for sustainable
growth. We have taken strong and necessary action to ensure the long-term sustainability of our
mission: to provide a distinctive higher-education offering grounded in the Heavenly Doctrine.
This is a turning point —not an ending.

...

We are restructuring Student Life and discontinuing all 11 NCAA Division III athletic
programs, our club hockey team, and associated athletic staff and trainers. These
programs will remain active through the end of the academic year, and all affected
students will receive full support. A new model —robust, inclusive, and financially
sustainable —will rise in the form of Club Sports. This change accounts for a net
reduction of 11 FTEs.

The review of athletics costs revealed an untenable financial reality. According to benchmarking
data from 69 DIII institutions without men's football, athletic expenses should comprise roughly
3% of an institution's budget. Ours, conservatively, stand at 12% and climb as high as 21% when
accounting for overhead. That places us at 400–700% of the national benchmark. This level of
financial expenditure is unsustainable. And the choice, due to NCAA requirements, is binary:
maintain ten teams or none. (NCAA, Trends in Division III Athletics Finances, November 2021,
p. 17)

I had hoped to preserve club hockey, given its storied legacy. But even stripped of overhead, its
cost remains too high. I share the grief this will bring especially considering the magnitude of
hockey's history in the college and in Bryn Athyn.

[Kuiper]

I thought this profile in a W&L publication on 2nd team All-American Weyimi Agbeyegbe was interesting, particularly about how he came to W&L for soccer when DI didn't work out and how the experience exceeded his expectations

What do you like about being a DIII athlete?

It's tough to put into words how much I have enjoyed my time playing soccer at W&L, and I know I will look fondly on my time spent on the team for the rest of my life. However, I still remember when I wasn't even planning on coming to W&L and, instead, going to a DI school to play soccer. I had been planning on going to a DI program, preferably an Ivy until COVID-19 hit and created some issues for my recruiting process. Suddenly, spots that were available were closing up, and schools couldn't come see you play due to travel restrictions. W&L was always one of the schools that was clear with me upfront that they wanted me, and after much thought, I committed — before I had even visited the school. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I could've made.

Coming here, I was able to be a large contributor to the team from the minute I stepped on campus, while being able to enjoy my social life and meet as many people as I wanted to. During my career, we've traveled to Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, the Appalachian Mountains and so many other cool spots, and I still had time for my studies and social activities. I guess what I'm trying to say is how great of a balance DIII sports offers, especially W&L. Being able to genuinely be a student-athlete is an experience a lot of DI athletes are not able to have, as it can become similar to a full-time job, while their academics and social lives take a back seat. I will say, it does help to play on a high-performing team with great teammates and a great coaching staff, but that only makes the moments off the field that much more enjoyable, as we're winning but having fun while doing it.

[Kuiper]

I think I didn't post this in the fall when it came out, but I thought it was pretty cool to read that Capital University will be hosting the Men's and Women's soccer national championship games at historic Crew stadium in 2026

https://athletics.capital.edu/news/2024/10/2/general-capital-selected-as-host-institution-for-2026-mens-and-womens-soccer-ncaa-division-iii-national-championships.aspx

Las Vegas might have been cool for the players and families last year, but it didn't allow for many others to travel and watch the games and UNLV's soccer stadium is pretty underwhelming for spectators.  Plus, the fact that it's not a DIII institution gave it an odd feel.  It's nice to have a DIII school taking ownership of the event, while still giving it a major league facility.  Only downside to the facility is that the stadium might be too cavernous even if one of Ohio's many strong soccer programs qualifies for the Final Four.  The other potential downside is weather that time of year, although I don't know if it's that much different from Salem, VA.

Capital University has been selected as the host institution for the 2026 Men's and Women's Soccer NCAA Division III National Championships to be held at Historic Crew Stadium. Capital will serve as hosts alongside the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.

"Capital University is excited to have been selected alongside our partners at the Greater Columbus Sports Commission as the hosts of the DIII Men's and Women's Soccer National Championships in 2026," said Dr. Darrell Bailey Sr., Director of Athletics at Capital. "We were very proud to host the Division III Women's Basketball Championship in 2024, and we look forward to serving as the host institution again very soon. Our athletic department strives for excellence on and off the field of competition, and this is another great opportunity to put our campus, department, and facilities on display on a national level."

This will mark the first time that Columbus has served as the host city for the Division III men's and women's soccer championships.

[EnmoreCat]

I think I didn't post this in the fall when it came out, but I thought it was pretty cool to read that Capital University will be hosting the Men's and Women's soccer national championship games at historic Crew stadium in 2026

https://athletics.capital.edu/news/2024/10/2/general-capital-selected-as-host-institution-for-2026-mens-and-womens-soccer-ncaa-division-iii-national-championships.aspx

Las Vegas might have been cool for the players and families last year, but it didn't allow for many others to travel and watch the games and UNLV's soccer stadium is pretty underwhelming for spectators.  Plus, the fact that it's not a DIII institution gave it an odd feel.  It's nice to have a DIII school taking ownership of the event, while still giving it a major league facility.  Only downside to the facility is that the stadium might be too cavernous even if one of Ohio's many strong soccer programs qualifies for the Final Four.  The other potential downside is weather that time of year, although I don't know if it's that much different from Salem, VA.

Capital University has been selected as the host institution for the 2026 Men's and Women's Soccer NCAA Division III National Championships to be held at Historic Crew Stadium. Capital will serve as hosts alongside the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.

"Capital University is excited to have been selected alongside our partners at the Greater Columbus Sports Commission as the hosts of the DIII Men's and Women's Soccer National Championships in 2026," said Dr. Darrell Bailey Sr., Director of Athletics at Capital. "We were very proud to host the Division III Women's Basketball Championship in 2024, and we look forward to serving as the host institution again very soon. Our athletic department strives for excellence on and off the field of competition, and this is another great opportunity to put our campus, department, and facilities on display on a national level."

This will mark the first time that Columbus has served as the host city for the Division III men's and women's soccer championships.

I managed to make it to UNLV Kuiper! However, I completely get your point and in my case, I think it's quite unlikely I would get to Las Vegas again and in truth, whilst I loved watching what I did get to see, it definitely wasn't the best place to watch at.  I mentioned at the time that I thought Roanoke was a quite iconic place to not just watch at, but to visit also.  A quick peek at Capital suggests it looks like an impressive field, albeit one with too many lines, but also Columbus looks a pretty cool place.

As an aside, I was thinking about what D3 field would be a suitable one for a Final Four.  I haven't been to lots, but based on where I have actually attended, other than Roanoke, that perhaps Babson is one that would tick all the boxes.  But, I know there are many more that would easily do the job too.