UAA Soccer

[NEsoccerfan]

Brandeis pulls one back with 21 seconds ago to pull off the 1-1 draw v. Emory. I was only able to catch the last 15 minutes or so, which seemed pretty even. Eager to hear the Deiscanton and Kansas Hokie in-person impressions. Who had the better of the play? Who stood out to you guys on each team? etc. etc.

[VASoccerDad]

Case gave up a goal on an Olympico in the 1st half, lost 1-0 to WashU.

Man, they need to figure out how to get the ball in the net...2 goals in their last 5 games.

[deiscanton]

Brandeis pulls one back with 21 seconds ago to pull off the 1-1 draw v. Emory. I was only able to catch the last 15 minutes or so, which seemed pretty even. Eager to hear the Deiscanton and Kansas Hokie in-person impressions. Who had the better of the play? Who stood out to you guys on each team? etc. etc.

My short thoughts on the game was that Brandeis men's soccer tends to play better in the second half of matches this season as they adjust to the opponent's style of play.   The Emory goal in the opening half came from Lorenzo Avalos on an assist from Ignacio Cubeddu in the 21st minute, but unlike last weekend, Brandeis held on in the first half and was able to go to halftime only down 1 goal rather than down by 3 goals.  This set the stage for the eventual Brandeis equalizer in the second half.  Until the equalizer came, saves by Brandeis goalkeeper Tyler Correnti kept the Judges in the match while the Judges searched for the equalizer.   When the equalizer came in the final minute of play from Brandeis's Keller Chamovitz on an assist from Maddox Yu, I felt that the goal was more like a game winner than an equalizer.   While an outright win vs Emory would have been terrific, I felt more than satisfied with the draw today.   

I got to meet Kansas_Hokie, who came up from Pennsylvania for the match.   Of course, parents tend to want to watch their kids play.  He stayed in Sturbridge, MA last night by himself because the rooms were a bit cheaper than what was available in Waltham, MA.  Currently, he is driving back to Pennsylvania while the Emory soccer teams are flying back to Atlanta.   Kansas_Hokie is not heading to Atlanta for the home matches vs NYU, but will head to Atlanta the following weekend.   As for me, I took an Uber from my apartment in Canton, MA this morning, but found a friend at the game who is a Brandeis women's soccer alum from Walpole, MA whom I followed years ago when she played for then Brandeis soccer coach Denise Dallamora.  She was headed back to Walpole after the doubleheader and was very glad to give me a ride home.   That either saved me another $40 that I would have needed to spend for a direct Lyft ride home, or it would have saved me extra hours that I would have needed to take the T back to Boston for a commuter rail train home to Canton Junction followed by a walk home from the station.  As it is, I got home by 4:30 PM ET.  I had my lunch from one of the food trucks parked for the Brandeis Homecoming tailgate in between the men's and women's soccer matches. 

[deiscanton]

The NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Committee has released the second official NPI Summary report of the season.

This NPI report covers games through Sunday, October 12, 2025.

The report is located at http://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/46118

Here is how the UAA men's soccer teams are ranked nationally by NPI as of this morning--

1.) Emory (#6 nationally in D3NPI)-- 58.140
2.) Brandeis (#7 nationally in D3NPI)-- 58.097
3.) WashU (#8 nationally in D3NPI)-- 57.925
4.) U.Chicago (#20 nationally in D3NPI)-- 56.221
5.) Carnegie Mellon (#42 nationally in D3NPI)-- 54.825
6.) Rochester (#53 nationally in D3NPI)-- 54.350
7.) CWRU (#56 nationally in D3NPI)-- 54.146

7 of the 8 UAA men's soccer teams this week carry a quality win bonus, as their NPI values are above 54.

8.) NYU (#221 nationally in D3NPI)-- 49.066

[deiscanton]

Well, it looks like I am going to have to watch the first half of tonight's Chicago at North Park game on demand, because I admittedly was napping when the game started and woke up at halftime.

Chicago leading North Park at halftime, 3-1.

Gregory Sager on play by play tonight, with Jonah White on color commentary. (Yes, the same Jonah White who was doing play by play last year for Brandeis and MIT home soccer games, and the same Jonah White who is currently doing the UChicago play by play for the home men's soccer games this season for the Maroons.)

In the first half, North Park got the first goal of the evening in the 15th minute.  Nico Chavez scored the goal for the Vikings at the 14:53 mark, with the assist by Mathias Soerum.

Chicago then scored 3 goals in the final 15 minutes of the half.

The equalizer came in the 33rd minute on a goal from Chicago's Edward Wu at the 32:04 mark, unassisted.

Chicago then took the lead in the 39th minute on a goal from Jaden Hsieh-Bailey at the 38:10 mark, unassisted.

Chicago then made it 3-1 in the 42nd minute on Jaden Hsieh-Bailey's 2nd goal of the contest at the 41:19 mark, with Evan Kanellos picking up the assist.

Jaden Hsieh-Bailey has a brace on the evening so far. 

Watching the second half live now. 

[deiscanton]

North Park scores in the 86th minute on a header goal off a corner kick from Christian Vaaland at the 85:12 mark.  Vidar Rydall took the corner for the Vikings and got the assist.

Chicago still leading at North Park, 3-2.

[Freddyfud]

Eddie Wu is a beast.  Good to see him hitting his stride.

[deiscanton]

Final from North Park--

Chicago 3, North Park 2.

North Park drops to 7-5 on the season, and the only way that the Vikings will be able to qualify for the NCAAs this year is to win the CCIW tournament and get the AQ.  North Park came into the contest ranked at #84 in the NPI with no quality win bonus for beating the Vikings.

U.Chicago improves to 8-1-4 on the season, and now has 10 adjusted wins when you count 1/2 wins for each tie on the season. 

A hard physical contest with lots of fouls called, but no bookings.  North Park committed 25 fouls in the contest (a season high for the Vikings), while U.Chicago committed 14 fouls.

I will have to watch Chicago's equalizer on replay tomorrow morning, as Greg Sager described it as an "Olimpico" goal off a corner kick.   

(In other words, the equalizer was scored directly off the corner with no other player touching the ball.)

Fortunately, this game is not behind a paywall, as North Park uses Boxcast for their streaming platform. 

[laker4141]

Good performance from the Maroons on Wednesday against a physical NP team. I cannot help but look ahead to next Friday's fixture featuring the Maroons at Emory!

CMU and Wash U will also be a sneaky good game this weekend. Love this time of year.

[VASoccerDad]

Good performance from the Maroons on Wednesday against a physical NP team. I cannot help but look ahead to next Friday's fixture featuring the Maroons at Emory!

CMU and Wash U will also be a sneaky good game this weekend. Love this time of year.

CWRU is also hoping UChicago is looking forward to Emory! 😀

[deiscanton]

This week's UAA game schedule

Today (Saturday, October 18, 2025)

11 AM Eastern  (Rankings according to United Soccer Coaches D3 National rankings)-- 2 games on tap.

1.) #6 Brandeis at Rochester-- JC DeLass on play by play with former Rochester men's soccer head coach Chris Apple on color commentary.

A Week 8 D3 Soccer pool game

Hive predicted:  Brandeis 54% chance of winning, Rochester 32% chance of winning, Draw about 13 to 14% chance.

2.) NYU at #3 Emory-- Probable play by play person may be Will Hopkins, I will have to check FloCollege stream.

(Update-- former Emory men's soccer alum Patrick Carver on play by play today.  He last did play by play for the Sonny Carter Invitational earlier this season, but did not do play by play in the previous Emory men's soccer home game.)

Later today at 5:30 PM Central/6:30 PM Eastern

3.) CWRU at #19 U.Chicago-- Jonah White most likely on play by play for this one.


Tomorrow (Sunday, October 19, 2025) at 11 AM Central/Noon Eastern

4.) RV-- Carnegie Mellon at #4 Wash U-- Jay Murry on play by play.

[Kuiper]

I just saw this from the Wash U newspaper and thought it might be of interest.  There are probably a lot of former club soccer players on DIII campuses that could play if given a chance.

'Over the Moon':  Yash Kshirsagar's Journey from Walk-On to the Men's Soccer Team

In the spring of 2024, then-first-year Yash Kshirsagar received an email that would change his life.

The midfielder had not heard back from former WashU men's soccer head coach Joe Clarke for months. He was passed over for an offer to play varsity soccer at WashU out of high school. After being accepted to WashU on his academic merit, he says he "stayed persistent" in emailing Clarke his updates: highlight reels, monthly check-ins, anything to keep in contact with the Bears' coach. All he heard back was radio silence, until Clarke's name appeared in his inbox with a surprising question.

"He said, 'I want you to come to our first training session on Friday at 6:00 a.m. Can you be there?'" Kshirsagar recalled. "And I was like, 'Yeah, of course I'll be there.'"

Now a junior on the varsity men's soccer team, Kshirsagar's story is different from most. Kshirsagar is the only player on the team to join as a walk-on, joining the team after a season playing for the men's club soccer team. He rode the bench for the entire 2024 season. But this year, he has come off the bench in a majority of the Bears' games and started in an early-season tilt against Westminster College. He is playing on the wing this season, a difficult adjustment from the midfield position he has played his entire life. But against all odds, this season, Kshirsagar has gotten regular minutes and goal-scoring opportunities.

Sometimes, Kshirsagar himself can't even believe it.

"There was about a year where I was really uncertain about my future and I didn't really know if I would play again," he said. "So having that all pay off is such a relief. I'm just over the moon."

Kshirsagar starred in high school, serving as team captain for his final season at the St. Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2023, he joined the Minneapolis City Futures team, which plays in the United Premier Soccer League. Through Minneapolis City, Kshirsagar met now-senior Zach Susee, a well-known name in Minnesota soccer circles and a forward for the WashU men's soccer team. The two of them had never met, but they shared a career progression — from the youth-level Salvo Soccer Club, to Minneapolis City, and ultimately, to WashU.

"I got to play with Yash a little bit at [Minneapolis] City, and he was on one of the teams that I used to watch at tournaments when I was younger," Susee said. "It's pretty cool that we have someone on the team from the same area and same club as me, even if I didn't know him personally."

Kshirsagar woke up early that day to train with the team. After attending a few more training sessions, he got an invite to the team lift session. The newly-hired head coach, Andrew Bordelon, soon asked him to practice with the team. He dressed with the team in an exhibition game against Saint Louis University that April but didn't see the field. He began to plan his daily routine around a team he didn't yet know he was a part of, all for the opportunity to play with the senior team.

At the end of the spring season, Kshirsagar had to ask Bordelon the uncomfortable question: did he make the team? He got the answer he had been waiting for.

"I kind of knew by then, since I was invited to train and practice all spring," Kshirsagar said. "But him saying that in words and giving me the confirmation was just incredible."

Despite training and practicing for the men's soccer team for over a year, Kshirsagar didn't see the field until the 33rd minute of the men's soccer 2025 season opener against Millikin University.

Bordelon turned to his former walk-on midfielder for the first time – poetically, replacing Susee on the pitch. 35 minutes later, first-year Wole Adeoye crossed a ball into the box. Once again, Kshirsagar did not waste his opportunity. He scored the goal that extended WashU's lead to 6-0, but more importantly, scored his first collegiate goal. He has not scored since facing Millikin, but he recorded his first career start in the following game against Westminster College.

"In the moment, I didn't really think about everything I have done to get that goal," he said. "But after the game, when I was with my parents, I realized all the steps I had to take to get there. That was a special moment."

Kshirsagar is still constantly adjusting. He is adapting to a new position, one which requires him to be less involved with playmaking and more clinical with his finishing. He's still training and improving every single day. With many of the Bears' regular forwards injured, the new winger is taking the opportunity to continue to carve out a prominent role for this year's squad.

"My goal is to bring that spark," he said. "I want to bring that speed and attacking power. And when I'm playing to my ability, that's something I'm able to do well."

So far, Kshirsagar has done just that. This year, he has logged valuable minutes in nearly all of the Bears' seven games. His energy off the bench is palpable, always bringing a good attitude with him into games.

"He is one of the most positive people I've ever met and just a genuinely nice person," Susee said. "He's just a really, really good guy, everyone in the locker room enjoys having him around, and now he's one of the guys that just fits well with the team."

For Kshirsagar, the journey has always been about more than just personal glory. He sees himself as proof that persistence pays off and that there's space for players who may not have taken the traditional recruiting route.

 "The main thing is to keep reaching out," he said, offering advice to future walk-ons. "At first, I didn't really see the importance of me following up so persistently. But I think that if I had sent only three emails instead of the ten that I did send, [Clarke] probably wouldn't have emailed me and called me up."

From captaining his high school soccer team, to doubting whether collegiate soccer was within reach, to becoming the team's only walk-on among a roster of highly-touted high school recruits, Kshirsagar's success has come in waves. And as the Bears' season continues, he's determined to keep building on that momentum — one game, one opportunity at a time.

[deiscanton]

NYU has scored a goal early at Emory.

NYU goal scored in the 4th minute from Kenyon Namdar at the 3:54 mark, assist by Wilhelm Frissell.

NYU up 1-0 at Emory early in the first half.