Last 5

ud: W, 3-2 at Central (5th team in IIAC, non-tournament team)
L, 3-1 vs. Wartburg (6th team in IIAC, non-tournament team)
L, 3-2 vs. UWP (non-tournament team)
W, 7-1 vs. Coe (1-17, 9th in IIAC)
L, 4-0 vs. Luther (2nd in IIAC, tournament team)

2-3-0 in last five ... 1-3-0 at home ... finished year 7-4-0 at home

Disappointing, but they were the better team in the NCAA's eyes. Maybe time for a visit to the optometrist.

If memory serves me correctly, Loras pinged a couple shots off the post and missed some chances allowing Dubuque to hang around. Make no mistake, Gonzalo is a talented forward and is a lot to handle for a defense. He got free in the 88th(?) and buried his chance.

By no means was Loras' season perfect this season, but at least they didn't get absolutely embarrassed on their home pitch.

Since ud knocked off Loras in the regular season, they went 3-4-0. Additionally, they conceded three or more goals in each of those losses. Brutal. Really goes to show they got lucky on Oct. 5.

Credit to Luther. They're a good club that will be a quality test for Loras on Saturday. As much as I would've preferred to see a Loras/ud matchup, it's clear that we will have the two best teams in the conference battling for AQ.

Will next week's Regional Rankings include games on Tuesday? Can't remember what the cutoff is.

With Dubuque losing to Wartburg at home, I certainly expect them to fall from No. 1, but how far is the question. I'm guessing St. Thomas will take over No. 1. If Tuesday's games are included, the winner of Loras/Luther could move into No. 2, or does Macalester move into No. 2?

Simpson won't go quietly, especially at home. I'm expecting a close 1-0/2-0/2-1 final result, hopefully favoring the Duhawks.

Luther will be an interesting matchup. They've certainly had their ups and downs this season, much like many teams in the IIAC. After winning four in-a-row, they've alternated wins and losses for the last two weeks. I remember going into last year's meeting expecting a close battle, but Loras scored two early goals and it was a one-sided affair the rest of the way.

I, too, would love to see the IIAC Tournament go through Dubuque, although it looks like it will no matter what. Just depends on which campus it will be at.

Who could've predicted the current state of the IIAC? Loras is back in the driver's seat with two matches to play after Dubuque stumbled again tonight at home to Wartburg. That's now two losses in conference for the Spartans at home giving up three goals (3-0 to Simpson and 3-1 to Wartburg).

The Duhawks control their destiny. Win out and it's conference championship No. 11 and home-field advantage for tournament. Won't be a cakewalk, a surging Simpson side and Luther remain. Should be a fun end to the regular season.

Loras was last at home on homecoming in 2011...defeated ud that night, 3-0.

Bradley was out for both games. Best guess would be nursing the injury that knocked him out of the Albion match.

Less than 24 hours after Loras hands CSS a 4-0 loss, St. Norbert turns the tide and hands the Duhawks their first loss. From the sounds of it, Loras came out flat and didn't feel the sense of urgency until they were down by two.

So goes the trend of having a young roster. Next Friday against Carthage becomes that much more important of a match, as will every game from here on out.

I thought CSS was going to be the real test of the weekend, no discredit to SNC. Looks like CSS has lost a bit of firepower. Did not have eyes on the game, but would be curious to see what aspect of Loras' game provided the platform for the scoring.

Agree with you KICKIN, good to see the newcomers working into the mix.

IIAC
Loras 2-0-0 ... Wins over Carroll and Albion don't look that good on paper, but with teams backing out of playing Loras, they'll have to take care of business on the home front. With the number of freshmen on the roster, good to get two wins under their belt.
ud 2-0-0 ... Pair of shutouts over Monmouth and St. Olaf. At first glance, the STO win looks good, but their ranking is solely indicative of where they finished last year. First real test will be MSOE on 9/17
Luther 2-0-0 ... Wins over Hamline and Carleton and have Saint John's and UWW coming up, followed by WashU and Macalester. If they do well there and finish in top two of conference, they could be in position for a bid.
Simpson 2-0-0 ... Wins over Bethel and Westminster. First real test could be Saint John's but then also have UWW later in the year. Could see them at No. 3 or No. 4
Wartburg 2-1-0 ... Crazy result versus GAC. Started the year giving up 3+ goals in back to back games. Loss to Macalester was interesting especially the red card in the first half. Tonight's 4-0 against Augsburg is about what an upper half IIAC team should do.
Nebraska Wesleyan 1-0-1 ... Newcomers to the IIAC but have a number of NAIA schools on their schedule. Hard to compare their wins this year. Conference play should be interesting for the Prairie Wolves.
Central 1-1-0 ... Meh.
Buena Vista 0-2-0 ... Meh.
Coe 0-2-0 ... Meh.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Central, BV and Coe on the outside looking in come conference tournament.

Once we see a larger sample size, we'll have a better idea, but as of right now, I could see the conference coming down to Loras or Luther.

Overall, liked what I saw tonight for a season-opener. I'm sure Rothert will tighten things up and work on, you guessed it, finishing with the gents. Tonight could've been 4-0 or 5-0. Thought the intensity dropped off in the second half.

Any day is a good day when you walk off with a win.

Highway robbery with this year's D3Soccer AA's. Wow.

Three of the four teams in the Final Four have two AA's ... Loras has NONE. All this award proves is that the "voters" know how to read stat lines. If anyone watched games from the NCAA Tournament or the Final Four, Johnny Rummelhart and Alex Bradley made their case for All-American status with their play, on and off the ball. But I'm not going to sit here and simply pump up only Loras' players.

But then again, even stat lines don't seem to make a difference in all cases. How on God's green earth do the "voters" pick Salisbury's GK as 2nd Team and completely omit Calvin's GK?

Salisbury GK // 13-4-3 // .890 Save % // 0.63 GAA // First Round
Calvin GK // 24-1-1 // .908 Save % // 0.24 GAA // Final Four

If its not stat lines that determine who gets AA, then maybe it's all about what players get talked up the most on these boards. I get it, DIII soccer doesn't receive the same level of national publicity as DI, but come on, do some reading and research and figure it out.

Congrats to the players who were named AA and are deserving. You've made your home fans and colleges proud.

Wheaton's Marshall Hollingsworth taken No. 41 in today's MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2016/tracker

KICKIN - If your source is as good as my source, the player will be a solid addition to a Duhawk lineup that will be challenged to fill the holes left by seven senior starters.

I've heard that one other player could also be coming to Loras, but I do not have confirmation on that.

As for other schools, I have only heard rumblings, nothing substantial.