NCAA Tournament 2025

[BTXCru18]

Some schools (like Mary Hardin-Baylor) have moved their policy to be "no kickoffs before noon" on Sundays. Otherwise you're hamstrung if a weather related reschedule happens on a Saturday evening.

[Kuiper]

Cross-posted from the Go WEST thread:

PREVIEW:  Hardin-Simmons @ Trinity at 4 pm Central

Hardin-Simmons has a 6-8-3 overall record and a 2-2-2 record in conference.  It earned the AQ from the ASC by tying Mary Hardin-Baylor 1-1 and advancing on PKs in the ASC tournament final.  At a NPI ranking of 231, and with a record below .500, Hardin-Simmons has to have one of the weakest resumes in the tournament.  On the bright side, it is coming into the tournament on a 5 game unbeaten streak, including two ties against Mary Hardin-Baylor, so advancing isn't a fluke.

Trinity has a 15-1-1 overall record and a 7-0 record in the SAA regular season.  Problem is that it has a 0-0-1 record in the SAA conference tournament, which is where it lost in the semifinals to Berry in PKs.  It is ranked #12 in the NPI.  It comes into the tournament with a 10 game unbeaten streak (a 9 game winning streak before the Berry tie).  Its last loss was a 3-2 loss to Christopher Newport @ Hardin-Simmons where Trinity was down 3-1 when Max Salinas received a straight red card and Trinity was still able to claw back a goal in the last 24 minutes.  So, while Trinity was frustrated in the Berry game, it should still have plenty of confidence (and a day more rest, for whatever that's worth).

Furthermore, Trinity and Hardin-Simmons played each other on 9/18 at Hardin-Simmons the day before the CNU game and Trinity won 2-0, outshooting H-S 18-3.  Among common opponents (Schreiner, Texas Lutheran, Concordia TX, Christopher Newport and UMHB), Trinity went 4-1 and H-S went 1-3-2.  Trinity is also 26-2-3 all-time against Hardin-Simmons and is 18-1-1 against them at home.

Bottom line is that Trinity should be heavily favored in this game, especially at home.  The one caveat to that is that H-S knows how to play Trinity.  It knows it needs to stay compact, play defensively, and cede possession around the perimeter like Berry did against Trinity in the SAA semifinals.  I'm just not sure Hardin-Simmons has the players who can stick with Knutsen, Theiss, et al for Trinity for 90 minutes of passing and moving in the box, or that can consistently defend Trinity on corners, which is what you inevitably concede out of a compact, low block, set up in front of your goal.

[Kuiper]

Cross-posting from the Go WEST thread

PREVIEW:  Whitman v. Texas Lutheran @ Trinity TX at 6:30 PM Central

Whitman comes into the game undefeated on the year with a 14-0-6 record overall and a 13-0-3 record in the NWC.  Winning the AQ in the NWC is no fluke.  They don't use a conference tournament where one bad bounce can knock a team out.  Every team plays each other twice in a home-and-away series and the team at the top gets the AQ.  It did, however, beat the #2 team in the NWC in Pacific Lutheran in the last game of the regular season to clinch the championship, so Whitman does have some experience with winning in a must-win game.  Whitman is ranked #60 in the NPI despite being undefeated mostly because of its weak strength-of-schedule (the NWC is pretty weak) and its measly 0.699 in QWB points.  Out-of-conference, it tied Colorado College and Mary Hardin-Baylor, both of which lost in their conference tournament finals and didn't get at-large bids, and beat Cal Lutheran, which finished last in the SCIAC.  So, not a single one of its results came against an NCAA tournament team. 

Texas Lutheran is 12-4-3 overall and 8-1-2 in the SCAC.  It finished #2 in the SCAC to Colorado College, but beat them in the finals of the conference tournament to earn the AQ.  It comes in on an 8 game unbeaten streak, with its last loss to Colorado College.  It is ranked #97 in the NPI in part because the best team it beat (other than Colorado College in the conference final) was Hendrix, which was #198 on the NPI.  It does play a lot of good teams close, losing 1-0 to Trinity, Southwestern and 2-1 to UMHB.

These two teams are a study in contrasting styles.  Whitman scores 2.45 goals per game and has conceded 21, while TLU only scores 1.63 goals per game, but has only conceded 12.  Whitman has a lot of skilled players that can score in bunches, but they sometimes appear to lack the grit or motivation to really push their opponents, while TLU has grit and motivation, but sometimes lack that skill to put the ball in the back of the net, like in the first half against Colorado in the SCAC finals when TLU came out on the front foot and outshot CC 16-0, but scoring none.  Whitman often fell behind this year to weak teams before they got their acts together and rallied for wins, while TLU is pretty good at defending a lead (the one exception was against Austin College when they gave up a 2-0 lead by allowing goals in the 86th and 87th minutes).  I expect Whitman won't have as much trouble finding motivation in this game, but if they falter, they also may not have the ability to overcome a strong TLU defense playing close to home in a familiar environment.

[mngopher]

Cross-posting from the Go WEST thread for the early game involving a Region X team

PREVIEW:  Occidental at Augsburg, Sat 11/15 at 11 AM Central

Occidental was 10-5-4 this season and is ranked #129 in the NPI.  It qualified for the tournament by winning the SCIAC conference tournament final 1-0 over Redlands.  It was also the SCIAC regular season champion with a 6-3-3 conference record.  The team started with a rough trip to the northeast, losing to Babson 2-1, beating MIT 3-0, and then losing to UMass Boston 4-0 in a game where the team looked beat.  The team meandered around most of the rest of the season until ending conference regular season and conference tournament play with 5 wins in a row, beating their opponents (all but one of which were conference tournament qualifiers) by a combined 15-4 score.  They essentially put it together at the right time, raising their performance when other SCIAC foes were faltering or dealing with injuries. 

Augsburg was 16-2-2 this season and is ranked #2 in the NPI.  It lost in the QFs of the MIAC tournament 2-1 to Saint John's, which has been its nemesis this year, also beating Augsburg 5-2 at the end of September.  I'm sure Oxy's coaches have been scouring video of those two games to see if they can pick up any tactical secrets.  That wasn't the only team to trip up Augsburg down the stretch, though.  The 2-2 tie with Bethel on 10/15 and with St. Olaf on 10/25 were other blemishes after starting the season with 10 straight wins.  Maybe the rest from losing early in the conference tournament will allow them to come out energized or maybe they will have some doubts and some rust.

Augsburg should be the overwhelming favorite, even before you factor in that they are playing at home and with the weather and time zone advantage (Oxy will feel like they are playing at 9 am).  Does Oxy have a chance?  Every team has a chance, but this is a heavy lift for Oxy.  It has some talented players.  SCIAC offensive player of the year Devin Bening is fast and crafty in the box, they pass and move well, and they have some NCAA tournament experience left on the roster from 2023 when they made it to the third round and took Amherst to the limit.  However, Oxy doesn't exactly have an airtight defense and isn't built to withstand pressure for long.  Not sure they can handle Augsburg's Carver Tierney (not that many have). Moreover, Oxy has shuttled through goalkeepers and I'm not even positive they've found their starter yet.  Sammy Gramlich was outstanding in the second half of the SCIAC championship game, but he's been splitting halves with Casey Scott the last few games.  If Oxy can hold the fort, however, they play pretty well in transition and may be able to catch Augsburg pressing.  They also have the benefit of Macalester transfer midfielder Elijah Edelman, who led the SCIAC in assists this season and has both scored and provided an assist in his 4 games against Augsburg during his first two years of college soccer.  Edelman, as well as St. Olaf transfer defender Alex Yu, may have been able to provide some advance scouting on Augsburg and at least offer a player or two with familiarity playing in this environment.

Just noting here, since Occidental is really the only school in the three MN pods traveling in from outside the region, it was unseasonably warm in the Twin Cities yesterday. Touched 70 degrees, and was a beautiful day. Today isn't quite that warm, but will be around 55 and sunny for kickoff for all three pods.  Should be great soccer weather.

[Kuiper]

Cross-posting from the Go WEST thread for the early game involving a Region X team

PREVIEW:  Occidental at Augsburg, Sat 11/15 at 11 AM Central

Occidental was 10-5-4 this season and is ranked #129 in the NPI.  It qualified for the tournament by winning the SCIAC conference tournament final 1-0 over Redlands.  It was also the SCIAC regular season champion with a 6-3-3 conference record.  The team started with a rough trip to the northeast, losing to Babson 2-1, beating MIT 3-0, and then losing to UMass Boston 4-0 in a game where the team looked beat.  The team meandered around most of the rest of the season until ending conference regular season and conference tournament play with 5 wins in a row, beating their opponents (all but one of which were conference tournament qualifiers) by a combined 15-4 score.  They essentially put it together at the right time, raising their performance when other SCIAC foes were faltering or dealing with injuries. 

Augsburg was 16-2-2 this season and is ranked #2 in the NPI.  It lost in the QFs of the MIAC tournament 2-1 to Saint John's, which has been its nemesis this year, also beating Augsburg 5-2 at the end of September.  I'm sure Oxy's coaches have been scouring video of those two games to see if they can pick up any tactical secrets.  That wasn't the only team to trip up Augsburg down the stretch, though.  The 2-2 tie with Bethel on 10/15 and with St. Olaf on 10/25 were other blemishes after starting the season with 10 straight wins.  Maybe the rest from losing early in the conference tournament will allow them to come out energized or maybe they will have some doubts and some rust.

Augsburg should be the overwhelming favorite, even before you factor in that they are playing at home and with the weather and time zone advantage (Oxy will feel like they are playing at 9 am).  Does Oxy have a chance?  Every team has a chance, but this is a heavy lift for Oxy.  It has some talented players.  SCIAC offensive player of the year Devin Bening is fast and crafty in the box, they pass and move well, and they have some NCAA tournament experience left on the roster from 2023 when they made it to the third round and took Amherst to the limit.  However, Oxy doesn't exactly have an airtight defense and isn't built to withstand pressure for long.  Not sure they can handle Augsburg's Carver Tierney (not that many have). Moreover, Oxy has shuttled through goalkeepers and I'm not even positive they've found their starter yet.  Sammy Gramlich was outstanding in the second half of the SCIAC championship game, but he's been splitting halves with Casey Scott the last few games.  If Oxy can hold the fort, however, they play pretty well in transition and may be able to catch Augsburg pressing.  They also have the benefit of Macalester transfer midfielder Elijah Edelman, who led the SCIAC in assists this season and has both scored and provided an assist in his 4 games against Augsburg during his first two years of college soccer.  Edelman, as well as St. Olaf transfer defender Alex Yu, may have been able to provide some advance scouting on Augsburg and at least offer a player or two with familiarity playing in this environment.

Just noting here, since Occidental is really the only school in the three MN pods traveling in from outside the region, it was unseasonably warm in the Twin Cities yesterday. Touched 70 degrees, and was a beautiful day. Today isn't quite that warm, but will be around 55 and sunny for kickoff for all three pods.  Should be great soccer weather.

Considering that it is rainy and 50s in Los Angeles today, sounds like an improvement!

[Dustin_Patrón]

The nescac tournament is more difficult to win than this funsy jamboree.

[Mr_November]

Congrats to Messiah on the OT win today. You broke the Statesmen's hearts ,but frankly looked like the better team from the opening of the second half. No dishonor in losing to any Messiah team, but it still hurts after a "no loss" regular season.

Congratulations, Bartman, on the season that Hobart had. I'm disappointed to see them go, as that was such an entertaining game. #14 is some player. Always looks dangerous on the ball. I wish I had watched more Hobart matches this season.

[Mr_November]

The nescac tournament is more difficult to win than this funsy jamboree.

Me: *purses lips, checks username, keeps scrolling for a more relevant post*

[camosfan]

Thought Cortland and SUNNY D were from the same conf?

[Mr_November]

Another thrilling match underway in the Hobart/Messiah/Calvin/GC pod. First 5 min, Messiah should have scored 2. Next 5 min, Calvin should have had 2. And now, 20 min, Messiah should have scored. This is an end-to-end match. Highly entertaining.

[doc]

Another thrilling match underway in the Hobart/Messiah/Calvin/GC pod. First 5 min, Messiah should have scored 2. Next 5 min, Calvin should have had 2. And now, 20 min, Messiah should have scored. This is an end-to-end match. Highly entertaining.

Agreed, very entertaining. Lots of up and down. Worst part of the live stream is the incessant whining from the Messiah fans. Woof.

[Mr_November]

Another thrilling match underway in the Hobart/Messiah/Calvin/GC pod. First 5 min, Messiah should have scored 2. Next 5 min, Calvin should have had 2. And now, 20 min, Messiah should have scored. This is an end-to-end match. Highly entertaining.

Agreed, very entertaining. Lots of up and down. Worst part of the live stream is the incessant whining from the Messiah fans. Woof.

And now a weather delay...

[Hopkins92]

Dickinson is gnarly. 4-0 up on NC Wesleyan.

[SierraFD3soccer]

FYI, what is the NCAA rule on "dog on the field?" Apparently, the UMASS Boston/Rog Williams game was just delayed at Bowdoin. Asking as a dog owner, hahahaha

[SierraFD3soccer]

Another thrilling match underway in the Hobart/Messiah/Calvin/GC pod. First 5 min, Messiah should have scored 2. Next 5 min, Calvin should have had 2. And now, 20 min, Messiah should have scored. This is an end-to-end match. Highly entertaining.

Agreed, very entertaining. Lots of up and down. Worst part of the live stream is the incessant whining from the Messiah fans. Woof.

And now a weather delay...

Now Amherst Cath game, weather delay. Weird.