NCAA Division III

Division III men’s soccer roundup: First and second round action review

Photo: Courtesy of York College Athletics

Author Note: At the time of publishing, host sites and times for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds were not confirmed. Follow NCAA.com for updated match information as the tournament continues next weekend.

Sweet 16 and Elite 8 action will continue next weekend in the NCAA Division III tournament. While most games will occur on Saturday and Sunday, those with a no Sunday contest policy will play on Friday and Saturday. To our knowledge, none of the local schools have such a policy, but this rule could affect them if teams in their pod follow this policy.

The entire NCAA bracket can be found here. Listed below are the local teams who made the NCAA tournament and how they fared in the first and second rounds. As always, let us know what you are thinking below.

Capital Athletic Conference

York traveled to Stevens for the first and second round. In their first round match against Mt. Saint Mary’s (N.Y.), an overtime goal from Tobi Iguade was the difference in the 1-0 OT win. On Sunday, the Spartans took on the hosts Stevens. After being down 1-0, York came back and scored the equalizer in the 76th minute before scoring the game-winner 33 seconds into overtime. York moves on to their second-straight Sweet 16 with the 2-1 victory and will face Rutgers-Camden. While nothing has been confirmed yet, the match will most likely be at Rutgers-Camden.

After falling in the CAC Final to York 1-0 and earning an at-large bid, Salisbury hosted the first and second rounds and started their NCAA run off on the right foot with a convincing 4-0 win over Greensboro College. However, their success didn’t carry over to Sunday when they fell to Messiah College, 3-0.

Centennial Conference

Hosts Dickinson shutout Susquehanna 2-0, while F&M got by Catholic 1-0 to set up the third match between Dickinson and F&M this season. In the previous two matches, the Diplomats defeated the Red Devils, and the same occurred Sunday as F&M advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time behind the 3-0 victory. Additionally, Ben Beaver became the program’s all-time scorer with his goal in the win. F&M will next face Rose Hulman, who defeated No. 1 Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 on Sunday. The victor will advance to the Elite 8 to take on the winner of Kenyon/Messiah.

Commonwealth Conference

After winning their first-ever Commonwealth Conference title, Lycoming defeated King’s College 1-0 in first round play. The lone goal came in the 18th minute from Alfonce Mutuku. On Sunday,Lycoming crashed out of the tournament with a 4-0 defeat at Rutgers-Camden. Not too shabby for a team playing in their first NCAA tournament.

If you were looking for upsets this weekend, Messiah had zero danger of being upset. In their first round game against Centenary (N.J.), seven different Falcons scored in the 9-1 victory. On Sunday, Messiah cruised to a 3-0 victory against Salisbury College with Josh Wood scoring his 20th goal of the season. Messiah now advances to their 15th Sweet 16 in the last 16 years. Messiah next face Kenyon College, who defeated Ohio Northern and Wheaton (Ill.), in the Sweet 16. With Ohio Wesleyan losing in the second round, there is a good chance that Messiah could host next weekend.

Freedom Conference

Both King’s and Misericordia failed to make it out of the first round. King’s fell 1-0 to Lycoming while Misericordia tied Montclair St. 1-1, but was outscored 4-2 in PKs.

Landmark Conference

Susquehanna and Catholic both traveled to Dickinson for first round action, and both left on the same day. Dickinson defeated Susquehanna 3-0, while Catholic fell 1-0 to F&M.

New Jersey Athletic Conference

After going undefeated in the regular season, Rutgers-Camden earned one of the three first-round byes before taking on Lycoming on Sunday. Rutgers easily dispatched the visiting Warriors behind a 4-0 victory and advance to their second Sweet 16 in three years. Rutgers-Newark is out of the tournament after falling 3-1 to Roger Williams in the first round.

Montclair State advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 4-2 win after penalty kicks over Misericordia before defeating Carnegie Mellon 1-0. They will now face Rochester at a yet to be determined site.

One Comment

  1. Phil Naegely says:

    Host sites have been announced: From the local scene, Messiah and Rutgers-Camden will play host. Below is the remaining 16 teams and who is hosted. The host team in each pod is signified with an asterisk.

    Rutgers-Camden*, York (Pa.), Montclair St., Rochester

    Loras*, Westminster, Trinity (Tx.), Wartburg

    Rose-Hulman, Franklin & Marshall, Kenyon, Messiah*

    Brandeis, Williams, St. Lawrence, Amherst*

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