NCAA Tournament 2025

[camosfan]

I like St. Olaf, nice game style and the players are quite friendly, speaking to a few of them after the Tufts game and they had nothing but admiration for the Tufts program.

[D3Navy]

As possibly the only Trinity(TX) supporter that ever posts here, I can't imagine how those kids felt when that shot went in.  This was a team virtually nobody gave a chance to even make the final four and for 89:55 a championship was right there.  Kudos to Tufts for pushing to the end and literally pulling it out in the final seconds, but kudos as well to McGinlay and everyone on that team for making it there. 

And yes, my wife did ask me if everything was OK after I screamed in frustration and despair myself.

With you, Ron.

[rdanie03]

Has Tufts just completed the greatest season in program history?

2014:
- 16-2-4
- National champs
- NESCAC regular season champs (1 seed)

2016:
- 15-5-2
- National champs
- 2nd place NESCAC regular season finish

2018:
- 18-0-3
- National champs
- NESCAC regular season champs (1 seed)

2019:
- 20-2-2
- National champs
- NESCAC champs
- 2nd place NESCAC regular season finish

2025:
- 20-1-3
- National champs
- NESCAC champs
- NESCAC regular season champs (1 seed)

Not only that, but the most dominant two year stretch. Their only loss in two years was their NESCAC opener against Williams where they were dominant until the game got stopped for two hours for lightning.

[Sandon Mibut]

Tufts 2024 + 2025 Seasons:

31-1-9 for an 86.9% win rate

Knocked out of NCAAs in 2024 in 2nd round by Buffalo State in a game that was 1-1 (Buffalo advanced 4-3 on PKs) but Tufts had outshot Buffalo 31-8!!

They simply could not find the goal when it mattered most in 2024. GF 1.89 and GA 0.50 (increased to 2.38 and 0.54 in 2025).

If you cherry pick Josh Shapiro's amazing streak 2014-2019 the team was 95-16-18 for a win rate of 80.6% and he was 73.3% over his full 10 years at Tufts.

Dezotell in his first 5 seasons is 69-10-23 for a win rate of 78.9% which is the best in the NESCAC over the same period.

Looking ahead to Tufts 2026:

It will be a different team but not inferior when you look at the potential starting lineup. Perhaps less depth but there's an incoming freshman class that I know nothing about, at least 1 key player that missed most of 2025 on injury, and evidence of off-the-bench players that could step up. If Lauta returns they could be better next year!

(* means they were generally a starter)
*Xavier Canfin F (2025 jr)
*Bijan AktarzandiDas D (jr)
*Henry Brown F (jr)
*Ben Brown D (jr)
*Ethan Jett M (jr)
*Alex Johnson D (fr) got add'l playing time due to Feinberg's injury
Ellis Denby M (so) (started 9 games; over 1300 minutes)
Will Nicholas M (so) (over 600 minutes off bench)
Ben Ortman F (fr) 6'4" played a great shift in 2nd half of the championship game; over 500 min from bench
Gianluca Fallone M (fr) (~20 min/gm average)
William Cornog D (listed as soph) injured early in September & missed rest of season; started 2 games and played 50 min/gm prior to injury. Transferred from D1 University of Portland. Says he redshirted 2023 and played 1 minute for Portland in 2024 so perhaps a junior but with 2 more years of potential eligibility. Comes from a family of great athletes.


Losing (unless they're eligible and opt for a graduate year):
*Mateo Bargagna D (sr)
*Nikola Antic GK (sr) - eligible for another year but IDK if there's any plan
*Daniel Yanez M (sr) - his younger brother played in 6-7 games off bench as a sophomore in 2025)
*Ben Pensky M (sr)
Henry Perkins F (sr)
*Taylor Feinberg D (grad) missed ~5 weeks due to injury
Mason Shultz F (sr)
James Gunn M (sr)
James Flagg D (sr)

[camosfan]

Antic and Pensky could return!

[rdanie03]

Also Gunn and Flagg have a redshirt year due to injury, so the champs are only guaranteed to lose Feinberg, Yanez, Perkins and Shultz

[Kuiper]

If you thought the fortunes of the Trinity men's soccer team could not have turned any worse when they conceded a goal with 4 seconds left in regulation in the finals against Tufts . . . 

Franklin County Firefighters Help Trinity U Soccer Team After Bus Slid off Roadway

Members of the Snow Creek Volunteer Fire Department assisted soccer players from Trinity University after their team bus slid off the roadway on Monday, December 8.

The men's team had just finished runner-up on Sunday to Tufts University in the NCAA Division III National Championship held at Donald J Kerr Stadium in Salem.

Firefighters transported the team and staff to the station in Pinhook "in order to get the tour bus off the mountain and back down to safety," according to the Facebook post.

Fortunately, the photos in the story suggest no one was hurt.

[SierraFD3soccer]

If you thought the fortunes of the Trinity men's soccer team could not have turned any worse when they conceded a goal with 4 seconds left in regulation in the finals against Tufts . . . 

Franklin County Firefighters Help Trinity U Soccer Team After Bus Slid off Roadway

Members of the Snow Creek Volunteer Fire Department assisted soccer players from Trinity University after their team bus slid off the roadway on Monday, December 8.

The men's team had just finished runner-up on Sunday to Tufts University in the NCAA Division III National Championship held at Donald J Kerr Stadium in Salem.

Firefighters transported the team and staff to the station in Pinhook "in order to get the tour bus off the mountain and back down to safety," according to the Facebook post.

Fortunately, the photos in the story suggest no one was hurt.

I hear you, but I think that just made that experience even more special. True adventure.

I guessing they were taking a bus down to NC for a plane. NCAA probably wouldn't spring for the plane ride from Roanoke-Blacksburg.

[Ron Boerger]

The pics from the news article linked from the facebook post showed them in good spirits, all things considered.  And the team reposted the article on their IG.

There were issues getting flights at all (which as Kuiper previously posted, resulted in them arriving a day early) so this may have simply been the best the NCAA could do on short notice.

[D3Navy]

If you thought the fortunes of the Trinity men's soccer team could not have turned any worse when they conceded a goal with 4 seconds left in regulation in the finals against Tufts . . . 

Franklin County Firefighters Help Trinity U Soccer Team After Bus Slid off Roadway

Members of the Snow Creek Volunteer Fire Department assisted soccer players from Trinity University after their team bus slid off the roadway on Monday, December 8.

The men's team had just finished runner-up on Sunday to Tufts University in the NCAA Division III National Championship held at Donald J Kerr Stadium in Salem.

Firefighters transported the team and staff to the station in Pinhook "in order to get the tour bus off the mountain and back down to safety," according to the Facebook post.

Fortunately, the photos in the story suggest no one was hurt.

If the team was low after the loss, I bet this helped keep things in perspective.  They are a fine bunch.

[Hopkins92]

Once the bus was at the fire station, the team loaded up to continue its journey to San Antonio, Texas.

That's a helluva bus ride. Google spit out 20.5 hours on the road.

[Ron Boerger]

Once the bus was at the fire station, the team loaded up to continue its journey to San Antonio, Texas.

That's a helluva bus ride. Google spit out 20.5 hours on the road.

They flew via Greensboro (GSO) and were on their way there. 

[Hopkins92]

Once the bus was at the fire station, the team loaded up to continue its journey to San Antonio, Texas.

That's a helluva bus ride. Google spit out 20.5 hours on the road.

They flew via Greensboro (GSO) and were on their way there. 

I figured as much... Local reporting can be a little spotty. ;-)

[camosfan]

I think Tufts said they flew into and out of Charlotte, was thinking all teams did that?

[Ron Boerger]

I think Tufts said they flew into and out of Charlotte, was thinking all teams did that?

You fly where the NCAA can get flights.  From San Antonio, GSO was the option.