BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The final week of the 2025 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) men's soccer regular season has arrived.
STAT PACK
The latest MIAC men's soccer Stat Pack as of Tuesday, October 28, can be viewed here.
IN THE POLLS
St. Olaf is ranked No. 3 and Augsburg is No. 6 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, released on October 28. Gustavus also received votes in the balloting.
Five of the top seven teams in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Region IX Rankings hail from the MIAC. St. Olaf and Augsburg are Nos. 1-2, with Macalester at No. 5, Gustavus at No. 6, and Saint John's at No. 7.
Augsburg and St. Olaf rank second and third in NCAA Division III in the latest NCAA Power Index (NPI), released on Monday, October 27. Gustavus is No. 24 and Macalester is No. 30. The NPI is used to select the 21 at-large bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament after the 43 automatic qualifiers have been determined on November 9. The D3Playbook has projected the NPI cut line for men's soccer at-large candidates to be 38.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
St. Olaf (9-0-1) has locked up the regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the 2025 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs. The Oles secured their 10th MIAC regular season crown - and fourth in the last five seasons - with a 1-0 win over Hamline on 10/21. The nationally-ranked Oles are an undefeated 26-0-6 in their last 32 MIAC contests.
Macalester (7-2-0) can secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Playoffs with a win over Bethel (5-3-1) on Friday night. Anything less than a win would open the door for Augsburg (6-1-2) to slide into the No. 2 spot. The Auggies head to Moorhead for a matchup with Concordia (0-8-1) on Saturday.
Macalester and Augsburg are both assured of top-three billing, but which team will host a quarterfinal game and which will rest until the semifinals will be determined this weekend.
Bethel and Gustavus (5-3-1) will see each other in the quarterfinals, but the site of that game is yet to be determined. A Gustie victory over Saint Mary's (1-6-1) would send the playoff game to St. Peter, while a Royal win coupled with a Gustavus loss or tie would secure Bethel with the No. 4 seed. Gustavus defeated Bethel, 4-2, in Arden Hills on 10/4 to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Royals.
Saint John's (3-4-1), St. Scholastica (3-5-1), and Carleton (2-4-3) all remain in the hunt for the sixth and final playoff spot. The Johnnies have the inside track to snag the final spot, needing a win in one of their final two game against either Saint Mary's (1-6-1) on 10/28 or Hamline (1-6-2) on 11/1.
PLAYOFF ADMISSION & PAY-PER-VIEW
All tickets for the 2025 MIAC Playoffs will be sold and purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing. There will not be cash sales at any venue; however, spectators can purchase tickets using a mobile device, including while at the venue. Tickets will go on sale when the playoff field is announced on Saturday.
General admission adult tickets are $12 (plus HTT service charge). Student (with ID) tickets are $3 (plus HTT service charge), and children ages five and under are admitted free.
The 2025 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs will be streamed live on the MIAC Sports Network in a pay-per-view format. Individual playoff contests will be streamed for $10 each, or $25 for a "championship pass" to stream the entire tournament live. On-demand access to playoff games will be available after the NCAA Tournament concludes.
The MIAC Sports Network Help Page provides guidance and links to help fans navigate the streaming platform. Hudl Customer Support is also available by email or 24/7 chat to assist with any issues.
NATIONAL NOTABLES
Augsburg senior forward Mitchel Munzing (Portland, Ore. / Grant) had three assists against Saint Mary's on 9/20, tied for the third-most in any NCAA Division III game this season.
Augsburg senior forward Carver Tierney (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo) has six game-winning goals this season, tied for the most at all levels of NCAA men's soccer. Tierney has 33 total points this season, tied for the tenth-most in Division III. He had four goals against Linfield on 8/31, tied for the second-most in any D-III game this season. His nine points in the contest remain tied for the fourth-most in a D-III contest this fall.
Augsburg first-year goalkeeper Christian Hodges (New Albany, Ohio / Tree of Life Christian School) is tied for the most individual shutouts at all levels of NCAA men's soccer this season with 11. He has logged 1510:25 minutes in goal this season, the third-most in D-III. Hodges' save percentage of 0.877 ranks tenth in Division III.
Carleton senior forward Ben Pennell (San Francisco, Calif. / Lick-Wilmerding) has 12 goals in 12 games this season, tied for the eighth-best goals per game average in D-III this season.
Carleton senior midfielder Jonathan Vonderlage (Seattle, Wash. / Lakeside) was credited with three assists against Lincoln on 10/5, tied for the fifth-most in any D-III game this year.
Gustavus junior forward Joe Flory (Whitchurch, England / The King's School Chester) has tallied five game-winning goals this season, tied for the sixth-most in NCAA Division III.
Macalester junior goalkeeper Drew Moseman (St. Paul, Minn. / Central) has a goals-against average of 0.399 this season, the sixth-best mark in D-III. Moseman also ranks sixth in save percentage with a clip of 0.893 for the year.
Saint John's sophomore forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn. / Hill-Murray) has scored five game-winning goals, tied for the sixth-most in NCAA Division III this season. He has 16 goals in as many games this season, tied for the eighth-best goals per game average in the country. His 16 goals are the fourth-most in D-III this year, while his 40 total points are tied for the third-most in D-III.
St. Olaf junior defender Ryan Bechtel (Plainfield, Minn. / North) is tied for the lead among all NCAA men's soccer players this season with 12 assists. He ranks seventh in NCAA Division III this season with an average of 0.71 assists per game.
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg senior forward Carver Tierney (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo) scored four goals in two games last week to help the Auggies secure a berth in the MIAC Playoffs. Tierney scored a pair of goals in a 1:58 span early in the second half of the Auggies' 3-0 win over Carleton on 10/21. He went on to add goals in the 36th and 57th minutes - for his fourth multi-goal game of the season - in a 2-2 draw with nationally-ranked St. Olaf on 10/25. Tierney's 16 goals on the year broke Augsburg's single-season goal-scoring record of 15, set by Kebba Janneh in 2023. His 37 points are now the second-most in a single season in program history behind the 39 (13 goals, 13 assists) by Darcy Debing in 1976.
Bethel senior forward Jordan Ross (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) propelled the Royals into the postseason with a seven-point effort in the team's 4-2 win over Carleton on 10/25. Ross scored Bethel's second, third, and fourth goals of the game, securing a hat trick on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute of play. He was also credited with an assist on the opening goal of the game.
Carleton senior forward Ben Pennell (San Francisco, Calif. / Lick-Wilmerding) scored five goals - including two game winners - and added an assist as the Knights went 2-0-1 to start the month of October. Pennell converted a penalty kick for the game's lone goal in a 1-0 win at UC-Santa Cruz (10/4) before tallying the second hat trick of his collegiate career the following day in a win over Lincoln University. Pennell added an assist in the 10/5 contest as well, giving him a career-best seven points on the day. His equalizer in the 57th minute against Gustavus on 10/11 secured a 1-1 tie.
Concordia senior defender Gannon Brooks (Grand Forks, N.D. / Red River) got the Cobbers on the board first against Macalester on 10/15 with a volley off a corner kick in the 26th minute of play. The unassisted goal was his first of the season.
Gustavus first-year forward Kieran Mahan (Wayzata, Minn. / Wayzata) tallied six points with two goals and two assists in two wins for the Gusties last week. Mahan scored twice and assisted once in a 5-0 victory over Concordia on 10/22. He added another helper on the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory against UW-Superior on 10/26.
Hamline first-year midfielder Chris Palma (St. Paul, Minn. / Highland Park) scored on his only shot in the final minute of the Pipers' loss to Macalester on 10/25. It was Palma's fifth goal of his debut season and his first since a 4-1 win over Concordia on 9/17. Palma has taken seven shots on goal this fall and scored on five of them.
Macalester junior forward Zach Liptzin (Denver, Colo. / Northfield) has scored five of his six goals this season in his last six games. Liptzin found the back of the net against Saint John's (10/11), Concordia (10/15), and Hamline (10/25), in addition to tallying the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career in a 3-0 win at Gustavus on 10/18.
Saint John's sophomore forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn. / Hill-Murray) extended his point streak to four games by scoring two goals and assisting on another in SJU victories over UW-Stout (10/22) and Concordia (10/25). O'Connor tallied his team-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season to start the scoring of what would be a 5-0 shutout of UW-Stout and added his MIAC-leading 16th of the year for SJU's fourth of the game. He then contributed the primary assist on the second goal in a 4-0 victory over Concordia. O'Connor now has 16 goals in 17 games this season, the second-most by a Johnnie in program history, and three shy of the record of 19 scored by Ken Potts in 1974. His 41 points (16 goals and nine assists) for the season are also second-most behind Potts' 56 in 1974.
Saint Mary's sophomore forward Thomas Laaksonen (Victoria, Minn. / Holy Family) tallied five second-half points in the Cardinals' 4-1 win over UW-Stout on 10/8. Laaksonen evened the score at 1-1 in the 52nd minute before adding an insurance goal in the 78th and assisting on the final SMU goal five minutes later. It was the first multi-goal game of Laaksonen's collegiate career and his third multi-point game of the season.
St. Olaf junior defender Ryan Bechtel (Plainfield, Minn. / North) scored a pair of vital late goals to help the Oles secure their fourth regular-season MIAC championship in the last five seasons. Bechtel netted the lone goal of the game in the 77th minute to give St. Olaf a 1-0 win over Hamline and the outright conference title on 10/21 before capping a dramatic late rally by scoring the game-tying goal with 1:09 to go in a 2-2 tie at nationally-ranked Augsburg on 10/25.
St. Scholastica first-year forward Tim Bader (München, Germany) recorded the first game-winning goal of his collegiate career with a score in the 62nd minute to give the Saints a 2-1 win over Saint Mary's on 10/25. Bader now leads the team with three goals and eight points on the year.
UP NEXT
Tuesday, October 28
1:00 PM | UW-Stout at St. Scholastica
3:30 PM | UW-Platteville at St. Olaf
3:30 PM | Saint John's at Saint Mary's
7:00 PM | Hamline at Bethany Lutheran
Friday, November 1
7:30 PM | Bethel at Macalester*
Saturday, November 1
1:00 PM | Saint John's at Hamline*
1:00 PM | Gustavus at Saint Mary's*
1:00 PM | Augsburg at Concordia*
1:00 PM | St. Scholastica at Carleton*
*MIAC game
LEAGUE LEADERS
| 2025 MIAC Statistical Leaders |
| Overall |
MIAC |
| Goals |
Carver Tierney, Augsburg
Ronan O'Connor, Saint John's |
16 |
Jordan Ross, Bethel |
9 |
| Assists |
Ryan Bechtel, St. Olaf |
12 |
Jordan Ross, Bethel
Robi Buzakovic, St. Olaf |
6 |
| Points |
Ronan O'Connor, Saint John's |
41 |
Jordan Ross, Bethel |
24 |
| Save % |
Christian Hodges, Augsburg |
0.864 |
Cole Hanson, Saint John's |
0.811 |
| GAA |
Christian Hodges, Augsburg |
0.67 |
Christian Hodges, Augsburg |
1.22 |