Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

Bunch of mini-upsets, almost upsets, and surprise ties in the SCIAC tonight.

Mini-Upset:

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3 - Occidental 1

CMS winning a conference game probably hasn't been called an upset since at least 2017, so let's call this a mini-upset.  CMS came into the game in 4th place in the SCIAC with a 3-2-2 record and had tied La Verne a week ago and has already tied Cal Lu and lost to Chapman and Redlands this year.  Occidental came into the game limping a bit, having lost to UC Santa Cruz and tying Chapman in the last week, but it was still in 1st place in the SCIAC with a 4-1-2 record and this game was being played at home.  CMS, however, came in and pretty much dictated play.  The Oxy Tigers were toothless in the first half, registering zero shots, zero corner kicks, and 1 foul.  CMS got a goal on four shots and went into halftime up 1-0.  Oxy came out a bit more spirited in the second half, but CMS scored a second goal on a beautiful fake shot and pass in the box that left everyone wrong-footed and the Stags up 2-0.  Oxy got a goal in the 81st to make a go at it, but CMS quickly shut that down five minutes later with a goal of its own.  After tonight's results, Oxy drops to second in the SCIAC and CMS jumps to third.

Almost Upset:

Redlands 2 - La Verne 1

This game was 0-0 for a long time and it looked like it might end that way even though Redlands was dominating on the stat sheet.  La Verne broke the log jam in the 73rd minute and clung to a 1-0 lead almost until the end of the game.  Unfortunately for LVU, "almost" isn't good enough.  Redlands scored on a PK at the 88.37 mark and then got the game winner less than a minute later at the 89.32 mark to steal a 2-1 win from the jaws of defeat.  As a result of this win and Oxy's loss, Redlands jumps to first place in the SCIAC at 6-1-1 and now has a 4 game winning streak (the only other team with a winning streak of any kind is CMS with two).

Surprise Ties:

Pomona-Pitzer 2 - Cal Lutheran 2

Cal Lu was coming off a loss to Redlands, but before that had an 8 game unbeaten streak.  Pomona-Pitzer has been flirting with being competitive, tying Redlands and Chapman, but in the last two games lost to CMS and tied La Verne.  So, this tie should feel disappointing to Cal Lu.  Cal Lu took a 1-0 lead late in the first half, but P-P pushed ahead with two goals in the second half, the second on a PK drawn by Kyle Lau, who was playing his first action of the season after being away with the Hong Kong National Team and the U23 team all summer and early fall.  Cal L was able to equalize at around the 75th with a header on a corner kick, but couldn't do more.  The tie drops Cal Lutheran to 4th in the SCIAC.

Cal Tech 2 - Chapman 2

All the scoring for this game came in the first 45 minutes.  Chapman tried to knock Cal Tech of its game with very physical play, which has worked for other teams, but all it did was win Chapman the foul battle 17-9 and the yellow card battle 3-1.  Cal Tech is still painfully thin on the bench -- all but two starters went the full 90 -- and of the two subs Cal Tech used, one only played 8 minutes.  Nevertheless, they gut out the tie, leaving defending champion Chapman farther and farther away from a playoff bid.

[Kuiper]

Big upset in the NWC tonight:

Linfield 4 - Willamette 3

Willamette had beaten Linfield 8 straight times before tonight.  The last time Linfield actually won a game against Willamette was in 2018 (they play each other twice a year in the NWC).  The last time Linfield won at its own home against Willamette was in 2010.  Even if this is a down season for Willamette, it still came in with a record of 5-2-1 in the NWC and Linfield was the polar opposite 1-5-2 in conference.  Moreover, Linfield's only had 1 win all season coming into this game - against winless Lewis & Clark, and Willamette beat Linfield the first time they faced each other this season 3-0.  So, I think it's fair to say that this is a bond fide upset.  And the game wasn't as close as the score.  Linfield was up 4-2 for almost the entire second half before Willamette got a PK in the 85th minute to close the gap.  This drops Willamette to 4th place in the NWC

[BTXCru18]

Rumor that UST coach fired?

Clerihew is still listed as head coach on the website.  He has a strong resume, by the way, having come to St. Thomas when it was still an NAIA school after a couple of years as top assistant at Yale and before that head coach at DII power Franklin Pierce.  Sort of unusual that he would have gone to St. Thomas in the first place.

Been observing these threads since last season. First time posting.

Clerihew is out, confirmed... Still listed on athletics site, but absent from the school's main HR directory. Hearing he "resigned" officially... Alex Baez is the lone name left on the HR directory from the staff.

[Kuiper]

Rumor that UST coach fired?

Clerihew is still listed as head coach on the website.  He has a strong resume, by the way, having come to St. Thomas when it was still an NAIA school after a couple of years as top assistant at Yale and before that head coach at DII power Franklin Pierce.  Sort of unusual that he would have gone to St. Thomas in the first place.

Been observing these threads since last season. First time posting.

Clerihew is out, confirmed... Still listed on athletics site, but absent from the school's main HR directory. Hearing he "resigned" officially... Alex Baez is the lone name left on the HR directory from the staff.

Welcome!  And thanks for the intel.  Sad situation all around.  I imagine this isn't the last we've heard of it.

[Falconer]

https://www.stthomas.edu/mission/index.html

To be generous, I will assume the school acted consistently with its mission. That leaves other matters yet to be explained, including whether they did due diligence when that coach was hired—or whether he can fairly be held responsible for what went down.

[PaulNewman]

Falconer....the link appears to be to the St Paul, MN St Thomas mission page.  The Texas version I would assume is similar.

[Ron Boerger]

Falconer....the link appears to be to the St Paul, MN St Thomas mission page.  The Texas version I would assume is similar.

Here's the one for St. Thomas (TX):  https://www.stthom.edu/About/Mission-and-Vision.aqf

[D-Three Fan]

I watched this game live online. The players from both teams were chirping at each other from the beginning of the match. While I am not condoning the actions of either the UST players or coaches, the match really got out of hand when the TLU goalkeeper walked the length of the pitch and head butted the opposing player. The TLU coaches had plenty time to make him get back to his side of the pitch. He had no reason to be on that side of the field. I could not believe what I was watching. I understand that UST committed twice as many fouls as TLU, but the players and coaches from both teams need to be held accountable for this debacle.

[Kuiper]

Another "what the heck just happened" game down in Texas (seriously, if someone was there or watched the stream, pipe up because I'm sure I'm not doing this justice and maybe it wasn't that bad).

Concordia TX 3 - UT Dallas 2

I couldn't watch this game live and they took down the video almost immediately, but just based on the box score there must be something bad in the water down in Texas because this appears to be another crazy game.  Not quite St. Thomas TX - Texas Lutheran crazy, but it had some of the elements.  First, UTD goes up 1-0 at the 11:56 mark on a Riley O'Donnell PK after a hand ball in the box.  Then, seven seconds later, Concordia turned the ball over on the kickoff and one pass and a Riley O'Donnell chip over the GK later, UTD has a 2-0 lead.  Riley O'Donnell scoring a brace is not hugely surprising.  It's his third brace of the season, he scored a brace last game against Ozarks, and he was first team All Region X in 2021 and second team All Region X in 2022 and first team all-ASC both years.  Nevertheless, scoring a brace seven seconds apart in the first 12 minutes is pretty unusual.  If that's not crazy enough, Concordia then received four yellow cards in a three-and-a-half minute stretch between the 18:09 and the 21.46 mark.  To be more specific, and to make it odder, two Concordia players got yellows at the 18:09 mark and two Concordia players got yellows at the 21:46 mark. How does that happen? Well, at the 18:09 mark Riley O'Donnell was called for a foul and he was immediately subbed off the game and UTD's star player's night was done.  I'm assuming he was injured when committing the foul, but not sure how two Concordia players got yellows in that exchange unless it was actually a fight after the foul or the players were carded for dissent for arguing with the referee that O'Donnell should have received a card.  As for O'Donnell getting pulled from the game and not coming back, it's possible the UTD coach effectively red carded O'Donnell himself and he wasn't injured.  Then, at the 21:46 mark, two Concordia players were given yellow cards seven seconds after one of them committed a foul and both of those carded players were immediately subbed out.  Why?  Not sure.  Maybe dissent again?  At this point, we have five yellow cards in the first 22 minutes (one was given to a UTD player - Luke Harris - in the 4th minute). I'm guessing the referee association was given a tape of the St. Thomas-TLU game and and they were trying to clamp down on the game early, but that's a lot of early yellows.

The game went on without incident for another 6+ minutes, during which time Concordia scored and the game was 2-1.  Then things got crazy again.  Less than three minutes later, UTD's Luke Harris picks up a second yellow and they are now down a man.  Two minutes later, the UTD Team got a yellow (I'm assuming the bench or the coach) and ten minutes later UTD and Concordia players each got yellows a minute apart before the end of the first half.  So, if you're keeping score at home, it's UTD 2-1 on the scoreboard, Concordia 11 v. 10 in terms of players on the field, and there have been 9 yellow cards between the two teams in the first half (5 for Concordia, 4 for UTD).

In the second half, Concordia scores a goal in the 53rd minute and it's now 2-2.  A little over three minutes later, a Concordia player gets a yellow and 15 seconds later the UTD team got a yellow (bench? a coach?).    Then, in the 69th minute, a UTD player gets a straight red card (not sure for what - the play-by-play doesn't indicate there was a foul or free kick at the same time) and now UTD is playing with 9 men to Concordia's 11, but the game remains tied 2-2 for another 14 minutes

Finally, in the 83rd minute Concordia breaks through and scores a goal to make it 3-2.  BUT, the game isn't over.  A UTD player gets yellow in the 85th minute and a Concordia player commits a foul in the box at the 87:20 mark to give UTD a PK.  But, since regular PK taker O'Donnell has been out of the game since the first half, they let a sophomore take it who hasn't taken (or at least scored) a PK this year and his effort was saved by the Concordia GK to seal the victory.  For good measure, a UTD player gets a yellow in the last 20 seconds of the game.

So, 14 cards, including two reds (one a double yellow) and two against the UTD bench/coaches and Concordia ends UTD's six game winning streak.

With Mary Hardin-Baylor's 4-1 victory over Ozarks and Hardin-Simmons 4-0 victory over Sul Ross St., they are the two leaders in the ASC, with UTD and Concordia right behind them with one conference loss apiece.

[Ron Boerger]

Going to be very interesting to see how the remaining matches in the SCAC (and the ASC) are called this weekend.  The SCAC GoTW has to be TLU at Colorado College on Sunday.  And it will be interesting to see who actually takes the field (and is on the sideline) for both St. Thomas and TLU.   Normally you wouldn't expect Austin to give St. Thomas a challenge, but with the apparent loss of the bulk of the coaching staff and suspensions an upset isn't totally out of the question. 

[jaysoccer]

GK coach for UST will finish out season as head coach.
I find it utterly confounding that to my knowledge no statement, no nothing from the SCAC. That is definitely not a good look.
A 2 game suspension when it falls to bottom half teams in league isn't a huge deterrent IMO

[BTXCru18]

GK coach for UST will finish out season as head coach.
I find it utterly confounding that to my knowledge no statement, no nothing from the SCAC. That is definitely not a good look.
A 2 game suspension when it falls to bottom half teams in league isn't a huge deterrent IMO

I believe the GK coach(Manu Hernandez) was a volunteer. Perhaps staying on as an assistant. Officially, the head coach will be Assistant AD Nikola Barjaktarevic, formerly the Celt's women's soccer coach, I am hearing.
https://www.ustcelts.com/Nik?view=bio

[BTXCru18]

Another "what the heck just happened" game down in Texas (seriously, if someone was there or watched the stream, pipe up because I'm sure I'm not doing this justice and maybe it wasn't that bad).

Concordia TX 3 - UT Dallas 2

I couldn't watch this game live and they took down the video almost immediately, but just based on the box score there must be something bad in the water down in Texas because this appears to be another crazy game.  Not quite St. Thomas TX - Texas Lutheran crazy, but it had some of the elements.  First, UTD goes up 1-0 at the 11:56 mark on a Riley O'Donnell PK after a hand ball in the box.  Then, seven seconds later, Concordia turned the ball over on the kickoff and one pass and a Riley O'Donnell chip over the GK later, UTD has a 2-0 lead.  Riley O'Donnell scoring a brace is not hugely surprising.  It's his third brace of the season, he scored a brace last game against Ozarks, and he was first team All Region X in 2021 and second team All Region X in 2022 and first team all-ASC both years.  Nevertheless, scoring a brace seven seconds apart in the first 12 minutes is pretty unusual.  If that's not crazy enough, Concordia then received four yellow cards in a three-and-a-half minute stretch between the 18:09 and the 21.46 mark.  To be more specific, and to make it odder, two Concordia players got yellows at the 18:09 mark and two Concordia players got yellows at the 21:46 mark. How does that happen? Well, at the 18:09 mark Riley O'Donnell was called for a foul and he was immediately subbed off the game and UTD's star player's night was done.  I'm assuming he was injured when committing the foul, but not sure how two Concordia players got yellows in that exchange unless it was actually a fight after the foul or the players were carded for dissent for arguing with the referee that O'Donnell should have received a card.  As for O'Donnell getting pulled from the game and not coming back, it's possible the UTD coach effectively red carded O'Donnell himself and he wasn't injured.  Then, at the 21:46 mark, two Concordia players were given yellow cards seven seconds after one of them committed a foul and both of those carded players were immediately subbed out.  Why?  Not sure.  Maybe dissent again?  At this point, we have five yellow cards in the first 22 minutes (one was given to a UTD player - Luke Harris - in the 4th minute). I'm guessing the referee association was given a tape of the St. Thomas-TLU game and and they were trying to clamp down on the game early, but that's a lot of early yellows.

The game went on without incident for another 6+ minutes, during which time Concordia scored and the game was 2-1.  Then things got crazy again.  Less than three minutes later, UTD's Luke Harris picks up a second yellow and they are now down a man.  Two minutes later, the UTD Team got a yellow (I'm assuming the bench or the coach) and ten minutes later UTD and Concordia players each got yellows a minute apart before the end of the first half.  So, if you're keeping score at home, it's UTD 2-1 on the scoreboard, Concordia 11 v. 10 in terms of players on the field, and there have been 9 yellow cards between the two teams in the first half (5 for Concordia, 4 for UTD).

In the second half, Concordia scores a goal in the 53rd minute and it's now 2-2.  A little over three minutes later, a Concordia player gets a yellow and 15 seconds later the UTD team got a yellow (bench? a coach?).    Then, in the 69th minute, a UTD player gets a straight red card (not sure for what - the play-by-play doesn't indicate there was a foul or free kick at the same time) and now UTD is playing with 9 men to Concordia's 11, but the game remains tied 2-2 for another 14 minutes

Finally, in the 83rd minute Concordia breaks through and scores a goal to make it 3-2.  BUT, the game isn't over.  A UTD player gets yellow in the 85th minute and a Concordia player commits a foul in the box at the 87:20 mark to give UTD a PK.  But, since regular PK taker O'Donnell has been out of the game since the first half, they let a sophomore take it who hasn't taken (or at least scored) a PK this year and his effort was saved by the Concordia GK to seal the victory.  For good measure, a UTD player gets a yellow in the last 20 seconds of the game.

So, 14 cards, including two reds (one a double yellow) and two against the UTD bench/coaches and Concordia ends UTD's six game winning streak.

With Mary Hardin-Baylor's 4-1 victory over Ozarks and Hardin-Simmons 4-0 victory over Sul Ross St., they are the two leaders in the ASC, with UTD and Concordia right behind them with one conference loss apiece.

MHB in the lead with a perfect 12 points, CTX with 9 and HSU just behind with 7 and the only other unbeaten team in the ASC. Sul Ross win doesn't affect the standings as they are reclassifying to D2.

[Kuiper]

Another "what the heck just happened" game down in Texas (seriously, if someone was there or watched the stream, pipe up because I'm sure I'm not doing this justice and maybe it wasn't that bad).

Concordia TX 3 - UT Dallas 2

I couldn't watch this game live and they took down the video almost immediately, but just based on the box score there must be something bad in the water down in Texas because this appears to be another crazy game.  Not quite St. Thomas TX - Texas Lutheran crazy, but it had some of the elements.  First, UTD goes up 1-0 at the 11:56 mark on a Riley O'Donnell PK after a hand ball in the box.  Then, seven seconds later, Concordia turned the ball over on the kickoff and one pass and a Riley O'Donnell chip over the GK later, UTD has a 2-0 lead.  Riley O'Donnell scoring a brace is not hugely surprising.  It's his third brace of the season, he scored a brace last game against Ozarks, and he was first team All Region X in 2021 and second team All Region X in 2022 and first team all-ASC both years.  Nevertheless, scoring a brace seven seconds apart in the first 12 minutes is pretty unusual.  If that's not crazy enough, Concordia then received four yellow cards in a three-and-a-half minute stretch between the 18:09 and the 21.46 mark.  To be more specific, and to make it odder, two Concordia players got yellows at the 18:09 mark and two Concordia players got yellows at the 21:46 mark. How does that happen? Well, at the 18:09 mark Riley O'Donnell was called for a foul and he was immediately subbed off the game and UTD's star player's night was done.  I'm assuming he was injured when committing the foul, but not sure how two Concordia players got yellows in that exchange unless it was actually a fight after the foul or the players were carded for dissent for arguing with the referee that O'Donnell should have received a card.  As for O'Donnell getting pulled from the game and not coming back, it's possible the UTD coach effectively red carded O'Donnell himself and he wasn't injured.  Then, at the 21:46 mark, two Concordia players were given yellow cards seven seconds after one of them committed a foul and both of those carded players were immediately subbed out.  Why?  Not sure.  Maybe dissent again?  At this point, we have five yellow cards in the first 22 minutes (one was given to a UTD player - Luke Harris - in the 4th minute). I'm guessing the referee association was given a tape of the St. Thomas-TLU game and and they were trying to clamp down on the game early, but that's a lot of early yellows.

The game went on without incident for another 6+ minutes, during which time Concordia scored and the game was 2-1.  Then things got crazy again.  Less than three minutes later, UTD's Luke Harris picks up a second yellow and they are now down a man.  Two minutes later, the UTD Team got a yellow (I'm assuming the bench or the coach) and ten minutes later UTD and Concordia players each got yellows a minute apart before the end of the first half.  So, if you're keeping score at home, it's UTD 2-1 on the scoreboard, Concordia 11 v. 10 in terms of players on the field, and there have been 9 yellow cards between the two teams in the first half (5 for Concordia, 4 for UTD).

In the second half, Concordia scores a goal in the 53rd minute and it's now 2-2.  A little over three minutes later, a Concordia player gets a yellow and 15 seconds later the UTD team got a yellow (bench? a coach?).    Then, in the 69th minute, a UTD player gets a straight red card (not sure for what - the play-by-play doesn't indicate there was a foul or free kick at the same time) and now UTD is playing with 9 men to Concordia's 11, but the game remains tied 2-2 for another 14 minutes

Finally, in the 83rd minute Concordia breaks through and scores a goal to make it 3-2.  BUT, the game isn't over.  A UTD player gets yellow in the 85th minute and a Concordia player commits a foul in the box at the 87:20 mark to give UTD a PK.  But, since regular PK taker O'Donnell has been out of the game since the first half, they let a sophomore take it who hasn't taken (or at least scored) a PK this year and his effort was saved by the Concordia GK to seal the victory.  For good measure, a UTD player gets a yellow in the last 20 seconds of the game.

So, 14 cards, including two reds (one a double yellow) and two against the UTD bench/coaches and Concordia ends UTD's six game winning streak.

With Mary Hardin-Baylor's 4-1 victory over Ozarks and Hardin-Simmons 4-0 victory over Sul Ross St., they are the two leaders in the ASC, with UTD and Concordia right behind them with one conference loss apiece.

MHB in the lead with a perfect 12 points, CTX with 9 and HSU just behind with 7 and the only other unbeaten team in the ASC. Sul Ross win doesn't affect the standings as they are reclassifying to D2.

Thanks for the correction on Sul Ross.  I knew that, but just forgot (partly because they've lost all of their games in the ASC this year, which means wins against them haven't provided anything other than a temporary advantage in the standings anyway).  I should have said that MHB and H-S are the only unbeatens left in the ASC.

[Ron Boerger]

GK coach for UST will finish out season as head coach.
I find it utterly confounding that to my knowledge no statement, no nothing from the SCAC. That is definitely not a good look.
A 2 game suspension when it falls to bottom half teams in league isn't a huge deterrent IMO

The continuing radio silence from all parties is frustrating.  StT has nothing on their website whatsoever about this disaster; TLU, just the game story posted immediately after the game; the conference, zip.  I don't know if the conference has put a moratorium on statements until all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed, or if some of the parties involved are threatening legal action, or what.   

I've been following the SCAC since the 20th and they've never had to deal with something like this - likely erring on the side of caution as a result.