SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- There are only four spots available for the 2025 Summit League Men's Soccer Championship and as teams move past the halfway point of the conference slate, each match carries a little more weight with the final day of the regular season quickly approaching on Nov. 5.
Kansas City is the hottest among the Summit squads having reeled off four straight, including three in a row in league action. The Roos will be spectating from their perch at the top of the table Saturday as the remaining six sides all square off on the Summit League Network. KC will get on the pitch Sunday at Michigan State for a tilt against the Big Ten's Spartans.
In Summit play, Denver move back into a share of the top spot with the Roos at nine points if they can find victory at Omaha. It's a key tilt for the Mavericks, who sit at 1-2-1 with four points and only two matches remaining. Omaha's currently tied with UMass for the fourth spot on the table. The Minutemen are also looking to regroup following a setback last Saturday as they travel to St. Thomas to play the Tommies for the first time.
St. Thomas is eligible for postseason play for the first time after completing a four-year transition to the Division I level.
The Golden Eagles created a log jam where the bottom four teams in the standings are separated by just one point after blanking UMass 2-0. It was the first Summit win for ORU, who will try to slow down the nation's highest-scoring offense when Delaware comes to Tulsa looking to also join the Roos at the top of the table. UD is 2-1 in Summit play and owns the nation's best goal differential at plus-38 after combining to outscore Neumann and Omaha 16-0 last week.
UPCOMING
Saturday, Oct. 25 | TV/Stream | Local Time
UMass at St. Thomas* | SLN | 12 p.m. CT
Denver at Omaha* | SLN | 2:30 p.m. CT
Delaware at Oral Roberts* | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Oct. 26
Kansas City at Michigan State | BTN+ | 2 p.m. ET
Saturday, Nov. 1
Kansas City at UMass* | SLN | 12 p.m. ET
St. Thomas at Delaware* | SLN | 1 p.m. ET
UCLA at Omaha | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Denver* | SLN | 2 p.m. MT
Wednesday, Nov. 5
Delaware at Kansas City* | SLN 2 p.m. CT
Denver at St. Thomas* | SLN 2 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts* | SLN 2 p.m. CT
*Summit League match
Top 25 Rankings (United Soccer Coaches/Top Drawer)
Key: ACCNX (ACC Network Xtra), BTN+ (Big Ten Network Plus), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), SLN (Summit League Network)
RESULTS
Saturday, Oct. 11
UMass 1, Omaha 1*
Denver 2, (RV/24) Delaware 0*
North Carolina 4, St. Thomas 0
Kansas City 1, Oral Roberts 0*
Tuesday, Oct. 14
Delaware 10, Neumann 0
(RV/NR) Denver 0, Pitt 0
Omaha 5, UTRGV 1
Saturday, Oct. 18
Oral Roberts 2, UMass 0*
Delaware 6, Omaha 0*
Kansas City 3, St. Thomas 1*
Sunday, Oct. 19
(9/3) Virginia 2, (RV/NR) Denver 1
Tuesday, Oct. 21
UMass 2, Dartmouth 0
St. Thomas 2, Green Bay 1
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Kansas City 2, Tulsa 0
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Delaware’s offense continued to churn out goals as the Blue Hens blanked Omaha 6-0 in the first meeting between those two squads. Junior midfield Rich Monath became just the second Summit League player to register a hat trick in back-to-back games as buried all three of his shot attempts in the blanking of the Mavericks.
• UD heads into Saturday’s match at Oral Roberts leading all DivisionI programs in goals (44), scoring offense (3.4), assists (47), assists per game (3.8), goal differential (+38), points (135), and points per game (10.4).
• The Blue Hens are also the only team in the country that has three players with double-digit goals. Sophomore Marius Stenner leads UD with 11, while Mikey Johnson and Monath each have 10.
• Oral Roberts picked up its first Summit win of the season, posting a 2-0 shutout at UMass in the first meeting between the two programs.
• Golden Eagle goalkeeper Joao Mesquita made a season-high nine saves with six of those coming after halftime when ORU broke a scoreless tie with two goals in the final 11 minutes.
• The Minutemen bounced back from their loss to ORU by defeating Dartmouth 2-0 behind a brace from J.P. Mbuthia, who now leads UMass with six total goals.
• Denver returns to Summit play after earning a 0-0 draw at Pitt and suffering a 2-1 loss at (3/9) Virginia last week. The Pioneers will stay on the road to play Omaha at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
• The Mavericks are 3-0-1 in their last four at Caniglia Field, including a 5-1 win victory over UTRGV on Oct. 14.
• After the Cavaliers scored in the 54th and 57th minutes, Ian Welch cut DU’s deficit in half in the 59th minute with his third goal of the campaign. That flurry of scoring would be all that match would see as UVA outshot the Pios 16-9.
• Kansas City earned its third straight win on Senior Night as a trio of soon-to-be graduates each tallied a goal in the 3-1 victory over St. Thomas. Raphael Kistmann’s one-timer in the 68th minute proved to be the game-winner for the Roos, who moved into first place in the league standings with nine points.
• KC then made it four straight triumphs when the Roos went to head coach Ryan Pore’s alma mater and bettered Tulsa 2-0 behind goals from Jeremy Francou and Kistmann.
• The Tommies got back in the win column with a 2-1 victory at Green Bay in non-conference action Tuesday. After falling behind early in the seventh minute, Yanis Lakhlifi squared things up at 1-1 in the 37th minute with his fifth tally of the season. Alejandro Giner then provided the game-winner in the 60th.
• The Summit had six ranked in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 Freshman midseason list. Delaware goalkeeper JoJo Elliott was the highest-ranked Summit footballer at No. 5, while fellow netminder Marc Popow of Kansas City was 14th. Elliott’s Blue Hen teammate Freddy Jeffreys was the top field player at No. 17.
• Denver defender Will King and Delaware defender Joe Richards were ranked back-to-back at No. 35 and No. 36, while St. Thomas midfielder Ronan Selbo rounded out the half dozen Summit players that were ranked at No. 60.
• There were a trio of Summit players listed among the Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 overall midseason list, including a pair of Blue Hens. Stenner was ranked No. 11 to lead all players, while UMass defender Aidan Kelly was No. 59 and Johnson was ranked No. 66.
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