INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion Texas Lutheran (15-5) earned just its second berth into the 64-team NCAA Div. III Men's Soccer Tournament, while Colorado College (14-6) and Trinity (11-6-2) earned a berth into the tournament field with two of the 21 at-large bids. 2019 marks the first time since 1998 the SCAC will be represented by three teams in the national field. Interactive bracket
TLU scored three second half goals on its way to capturing its first-ever SCAC Men's Soccer Tournament Title with a 3-1 victory over Colorado College Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (14-3-2) for its NCAA opening round contest, the automatic qualifier out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), in San Antonio, Texas. On the other side of the bracket, opening round site host Trinity, takes on the American Southwest Conference champion UT Dallas (17-3-2).
Colorado College will travel to Chicago, Ill., for its NCAA opening round contest against Gustavus Adolphus (17-3-0), the automatic qualifier out of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) at North Park University. The winner of Colorado College/Gustavus Adolphus match will take on the winner of Pacific Lutheran (14-4-2) and host North Park (15-4-1) match.
Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites Nov. 22 and 23 or 23 and 24. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the national semifinals, which take place Dec. 6 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina, with UNC Greensboro and Greensboro Sports Commission serving as hosts. The national championship game will be played Dec. 7. The Division III women's soccer national semifinals and championship games will also be held at UNCG Soccer Stadium Nov. 6 and Dec. 7.
14th-year head coach Eddie Salazar leads Texas Lutheran, which is making just its second national tournament appearance with its only other pervious trip coming back in 2002. SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year and SCAC Most Outstanding Offensive Player-of-the-Tournament, sophomore Luis Green leads the Bulldogs and the league in nearly every offensive as he had netted 20 goals and dished out three assists for 43 total points. His 20 goals are currently tied for ninth all-time in conference history for goals scored in a single season. On the defensive side of the ball, SCAC Most Outstanding Defensive Player-of-the-Tournament, senior Lalo Lopez-Rivera anchors a defense that allowed just one goal in the conference tournament and lowed just 1.23 goals per game throughout the course of the season.
29th-year head coach Paul McGinlay leads Trinity, which is making its 23rd national tournament appearance. The Tigers got strong performances this season from Andrea Codispoti and Phillip Duenez as the duo combined for 14 of Trinity's 40 goals and dished out five total assists for 33 total points. On the defensive side first team all-SCAC defender Jacob Galan leads a Tiger defense that allowed just 20 goals on the year and posted a 1.03 goals against average. Trinity, which won the 2003 national title and finished as the runners-up in 2007, is 43-21-3 all-time in NCAA postseason play.
Colorado College earned the program's 20th NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2012. CC owns a 8-19 NCAA playoff record in its previous 19 trips. The CC Tigers are led by fifth-year head coach Scott Palguta and offensively were paced by SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year freshman Griffin Meyer. Meyer, a second team all-SCAC selection led Colorado College with 11 goals and two assists for 24 total points. Defensively, first team all-SCAC performer John Schuler anchors a defensive unit that sported a 1.35 goals against average and posted eight shutouts.
Forty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the championship. One team was selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions, as well as members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 21 berths were reserved for Pool C, which includes institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship and any remaining Pool B teams.
All tournament games leading up to the national semifinals will be played on the campuses of the competing institutions. Sixteen sites will host four teams for first-and second-round competition Nov. 15 and 16 or 16 and 17.
