NCAA Tournament 2025

[Kuiper]

Congrats to Emory defender Michael Constant for winning Elite Scholar Award for DIII Men's Soccer

Michael Constant, a junior at Emory University, has been named the recipient of the Elite Scholar-Athlete award for the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.

Constant is the third student-athlete in Emory University history to win the award, joining previous winners Kyle Monk (Baseball, 2016) and Clio Hancock (Women's Swimming & Diving, 2022). He is currently pursuing a major in Applied Mathematics while carrying a 4.00 GPA. Constant was presented with the award during the men's soccer banquet on Thursday, December 4th in Salem, VA.

The Elite Scholar-Athlete award recognizes the true essence of student-athletes by honoring the individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.

Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken based on the number of credits completed.

[Ron Boerger]

True as to Emory! Did not see that coming.

Freezing weather today in Salem especially as the sun sets so early. I think the snow will have come and gone by game time. Might be in the corners etc. Great its on turf. Melting snow for the finals is not great. https://weather.com/weather/today/l/cd3a86e5f64893bbb4e801f8f7f0f3d31adfd79b22f2c734c378aebb52aca333

Says snow showers so accumulation may not be as much.

Trinity posted some snow pics this morning on their Insta, looks like 2-3" but not sure where they were taken.    Forecast doesn't show much in the way of measurable precip the rest of the day.

[WUPHF]

Trinity posted some snow pics this morning on their Insta, looks like 2-3" but not sure where they were taken.    Forecast doesn't show much in the way of measurable precip the rest of the day.

Best of luck this weekend @RonBoerger.  As much as I would like to replay that game again in St. Louis, Trinity looked crazy good in the two games I watched.  Better than any other opponent the Bears played in my opinion.

[maineman]

Tufts will not sweep the womans and mens as the women lost in the semis. Either way that is pretty impressive they even had a chance.

So is Tufts now the D1 version of Connecticut basketball (2014 and 2004)?

Or the Middlebury hockey version of 2004, 2005 and 2006?

[mngopher]

By contrast, Tufts doesn't have a player who has gotten past the Sweet 16

Their 2025 squad is 1-0-0 in the Elite 8! 

Thanks for the write up and thoughts.

Anyone going to start making predictions?!

I'm the resident Ole here, but I think Tufts advances. I'll say 3-1 Tufts over the Oles. First half ends 1-1 after the Oles get another early one, but this time they can't hold in the 2nd half. Tufts gets a winner early in the 2nd and tacks on another with the Oles pressing late.

2-1 Trinity over Emory.

2-0 Tufts over Trinity in the final.

I said it earlier, but will add here: the Oles are the favorites in 2026. I'm slightly surprised they made the final 4 this year, but expect them to be there next year.

[Kuiper]

By contrast, Tufts doesn't have a player who has gotten past the Sweet 16

Their 2025 squad is 1-0-0 in the Elite 8! 

Thanks for the write up and thoughts.

Anyone going to start making predictions?!

I'm the resident Ole here, but I think Tufts advances. I'll say 3-1 Tufts over the Oles. First half ends 1-1 after the Oles get another early one, but this time they can't hold in the 2nd half. Tufts gets a winner early in the 2nd and tacks on another with the Oles pressing late.

2-1 Trinity over Emory.

2-0 Tufts over Trinity in the final.

I said it earlier, but will add here: the Oles are the favorites in 2026. I'm slightly surprised they made the final 4 this year, but expect them to be there next year.

On the question of St. Olaf in 2026, I was surprised when I did my review of this matchup to see how many of the major offensive contributors can come back next season.  Bechtel and Soares - the two leading scorers - are a junior and sophomore respectively and third leading scorer - Chitulangoma- is a sophomore.  Pillar and Tustin - who had 8 and 9 assists - are a sophomore and freshman.  The big question will be how to replace Buzakovic and their backline/goalkeeper.  They have a bunch of returning midfielders who got lots of time this year and I would expect University of Denver transfer Riker Doolittle will assume a bigger role.  Defense is a little tougher though.  Their three starting centerbacks - Hillis, Olseth, and Beckman - are all seniors.  They also lose starting GK Hobday, although backup Beckett is a big boy (6'4") and looked pretty good getting experience in 7 starts.

[rdanie03]

On the question of returning players, the jumbos also will return a significant amount, as they will return all but 1 of their starting back line, 2 of their 3 attackers and a good portion of their midfield(especially if they can convince the 3 seniors who took redshirt years to come back). Their only major question is in net, with Antic graduating.

[Sandon Mibut]

I'm the resident Ole here, but I think Tufts advances. I'll say 3-1 Tufts over the Oles. First half ends 1-1 after the Oles get another early one, but this time they can't hold in the 2nd half. Tufts gets a winner early in the 2nd and tacks on another with the Oles pressing late.

I'm not falling for the reverse psychology trick!

My gut says Trinity over Emory today, but the eventual winner I think will come from the Tufts-St. Olaf match.

Looking at NESCAC teams, I think Conn and Wesleyan (in particular) and Tufts all have a several of their studs back again next year. I  thought I had read/heard that Antic would take another year but IDK.

Bates had 2 freshmen and a Sophomore earn All-Conference honors. They could be a team to watch in the next year or two. Not sure what will happen in 2026 with Amherst, Midd or Williams.

[Bucket]

True as to Emory! Did not see that coming.

Freezing weather today in Salem especially as the sun sets so early. I think the snow will have come and gone by game time. Might be in the corners etc. Great its on turf. Melting snow for the finals is not great. https://weather.com/weather/today/l/cd3a86e5f64893bbb4e801f8f7f0f3d31adfd79b22f2c734c378aebb52aca333

Says snow showers so accumulation may not be as much.

Trinity posted some snow pics this morning on their Insta, looks like 2-3" but not sure where they were taken.    Forecast doesn't show much in the way of measurable precip the rest of the day.

Yeah, Lexington, just up the road from Salem, got around 3-4 inches.

[Kuiper]

True as to Emory! Did not see that coming.

Freezing weather today in Salem especially as the sun sets so early. I think the snow will have come and gone by game time. Might be in the corners etc. Great its on turf. Melting snow for the finals is not great. https://weather.com/weather/today/l/cd3a86e5f64893bbb4e801f8f7f0f3d31adfd79b22f2c734c378aebb52aca333

Says snow showers so accumulation may not be as much.

Trinity posted some snow pics this morning on their Insta, looks like 2-3" but not sure where they were taken.    Forecast doesn't show much in the way of measurable precip the rest of the day.

Yeah, Lexington, just up the road from Salem, got around 3-4 inches.

I wonder if the NCAA even has orange balls on hand just in case of significant snowfall during the game.  That would be kind of awesome (he says from SoCal where it's currently sunny and in the mid-60s).

[mngopher]

By contrast, Tufts doesn't have a player who has gotten past the Sweet 16

Their 2025 squad is 1-0-0 in the Elite 8! 

Thanks for the write up and thoughts.

Anyone going to start making predictions?!

I'm the resident Ole here, but I think Tufts advances. I'll say 3-1 Tufts over the Oles. First half ends 1-1 after the Oles get another early one, but this time they can't hold in the 2nd half. Tufts gets a winner early in the 2nd and tacks on another with the Oles pressing late.

2-1 Trinity over Emory.

2-0 Tufts over Trinity in the final.

I said it earlier, but will add here: the Oles are the favorites in 2026. I'm slightly surprised they made the final 4 this year, but expect them to be there next year.

On the question of St. Olaf in 2026, I was surprised when I did my review of this matchup to see how many of the major offensive contributors can come back next season.  Bechtel and Soares - the two leading scorers - are a junior and sophomore respectively and third leading scorer - Chitulangoma- is a sophomore.  Pillar and Tustin - who had 8 and 9 assists - are a sophomore and freshman.  The big question will be how to replace Buzakovic and their backline/goalkeeper.  They have a bunch of returning midfielders who got lots of time this year and I would expect University of Denver transfer Riker Doolittle will assume a bigger role.  Defense is a little tougher though.  Their three starting centerbacks - Hillis, Olseth, and Beckman - are all seniors.  They also lose starting GK Hobday, although backup Beckett is a big boy (6'4") and looked pretty good getting experience in 7 starts.

They'll bring back a ton of production assuming no transfers/etc. Doolittle was injured halfway through the season so hasn't been 100% for the playoff run, and Soares/Pillar have improved a ton as they've taken on bigger roles. The biggest loss will be Olseth as he is the rock of the defense and really the only size on the roster which is their Achilles heel. But just in terms of identity the Oles are about attacking and Bechtel/Todd are the engine so having both back is the most importany part. They can figure things out on defense and at GK as they only need serviceable replacements there.

That 2023 National championship team identity was basically "we don't care if you score because we can score when we want to" and that's still how the Oles operate. I don't think we'll have the horses to get the win over Tufts today, but with the attacking firepower coming back in 2026 I expect to be back in the small mix of teams to with a real chance to win it all.

[mngopher]

I'm the resident Ole here, but I think Tufts advances. I'll say 3-1 Tufts over the Oles. First half ends 1-1 after the Oles get another early one, but this time they can't hold in the 2nd half. Tufts gets a winner early in the 2nd and tacks on another with the Oles pressing late.

I'm not falling for the reverse psychology trick!

My gut says Trinity over Emory today, but the eventual winner I think will come from the Tufts-St. Olaf match.

Looking at NESCAC teams, I think Conn and Wesleyan (in particular) and Tufts all have a several of their studs back again next year. I  thought I had read/heard that Antic would take another year but IDK.

Bates had 2 freshmen and a Sophomore earn All-Conference honors. They could be a team to watch in the next year or two. Not sure what will happen in 2026 with Amherst, Midd or Williams.

Haha. I'm trying! Agree - I think the Tufts-St. Olaf game is the de facto national championship. No disrespect meant to Emory or Trinity who earned their way to get here.

[Kuiper]

St. Olaf 1 - Tufts 0 in the 29th minute

Tufts was overagressive collapsing on the ball carrier Jack Soares in the box, leaving Ryan Wilson open for the top bin score from close range

[Kuiper]

St. Olaf 1 - Tufts 1 34th minute

An innocent, lofted ball to the six yard box bounces around and is put in by a scramble.  That's one where the St. Olaf GK really needed to take command and simply didn't do it.  Not sure if Tufts' size bothered him.

EDIT:  James Gunn credited with the goal.  It was a real scramble in front of the box. 

[Kuiper]

HALF:  St. Olaf 1 - Tufts 1

St. Olaf is having problem with Tufts' size in the box on set pieces, but Tufts had some problems of its own on that last play of the first half allowing a ball to bounce around near the six yard box before being cleared.

Tufts out-shooting St. Olaf 12-6 (4-1 SOG) and has 4 corners to 2 for St. Olaf.  The Ole's will want to limit that corner number in the second half.  Tufts has 7 fouls to 3 for St. Olaf and two Tufts players are carrying yellows into the second half.