SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- If Wednesday was any precursor to what's ahead for Sunday's semifinal matches in the 2025 Summit League Men's Soccer Championship, then fans are going to be in for some ultra-competitive soccer filled with plenty of drama.
The final day of the regular season was wild with Denver and Kansas City ending up in a deadlock at the top of the Summit standings after late goals left the Pioneers and Roos level in clashes with St. Thomas and Delaware, respectively. Earning a single point was enough for both teams to share the 2025 regular season title with the Pioneers earning the No. 1 seed in the postseason thanks to a regular-season win over the Roos, who will be the No. 2 seed.
Delaware was trending towards being the No. 1 seed in its first season as a Summit League member until the Pioneers scored at St. Thomas in the 86th minute and the Roos converted an 89th-minute penalty kick to draw even at 3-3 with the Blue Hens. UD will be the No. 3 seed and bring the nation's highest-scoring offense into a rematch in Kansas City.
Oral Roberts ended up in a four-way tie with the rest of the Summit programs but earned its way into the postseason thanks to having the best goal differential in Summit contest at -2. The Golden Eagles played to a 0-0 draw with an Omaha team that needed a win in the regular-season finale to advance to the tournament.
Both of Sunday's semifinals games pitting No. 1 Denver vs. No. 4 Oral Roberts (1 p.m. MT) and No. 2 Kansas City and No. 3 Delaware (5 p.m. CT) will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.
2025 #SUMMITMSOC Championship
Semifinals | Sunday, Nov. 9 | TV/Stream | Local Time
SF1: No. 4 Oral Roberts at No. 1 (RV/NR) Denver | SLN | 1 p.m. MT
SF2: No. 3 Delaware at No. 2 (t25/22) Kansas City | SLN | 5 p.m. CT
Championship | Saturday, Nov. 15 | TV/Stream
CH: SF1 winner vs. SF2 winner | SLN TBD
#highest-remaining seed hosts title game
Top 25 Rankings (United Soccer Coaches/Top Drawer)
Key: SLN (Summit League Network)
RESULTS
Saturday, Nov. 1
(RV/NR) Kansas City 3, UMass 2*
Delaware 1, St. Thomas 0*
UCLA 5, Omaha 1
(RV/NR) Denver 2, Oral Roberts 0*
Wednesday, Nov. 5
Delaware 3, (t25/22) Kansas City 3*
(RV/NR) Denver 1 St. Thomas 1*
Omaha 0, Oral Roberts 0*
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Team | All-Time Record | Titles
(1) Denver | 15-1-4 | 8 (‘13, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘18, ‘19, ‘21, ‘22)
• The Pioneers are 9-1-4 all-time as the No. 1 seed, suffering their only loss a season ago in the 2024 title game (KC; 2-1)
• DU’s two-year stint without a tournament title is the program’s longest since joining the league prior to the 2013 season
• DU owns a 2-0-1 all-time record against ORU in postseason matches
• The Pioneers’ 15 tournament victories are the most in league history
(2) Kansas City | 8-15-6 | 4 (‘01, ‘03, ‘08, ‘24)
• The Roos won their first title since 2008 a season ago, earning a 2-1 win at top-seeded Denver
• KC is 3-5-1 all-time as the No. 2 seed and won two of their titles from that seed line (‘03, ‘24)
• The Roos have made the title game in each of the last three tournaments
(3) Delaware | 0-0-0 | 2025 League Newcomer
• Twelve victories are most for Blue Hens since 2016 season
• Made the Coastal Athletic Conference semifinals in 2023 in last postseason
• Won CAA postseason titles in 2011 and 2016
(4) Oral Roberts | 5-14-3 | 1 (1999)
• The Golden Eagles are 0-3-1 all-time as the No. 4 seed
• The last postseason meeting with Denver ended in a 1-1 draw with the Pioneers winning the 2021 championship via penalty kicks
• ORU advanced to the 2010 title game as the No. 4 seed, falling to Oakland via penalty kicks
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• When the dust settled after a wild final day of the regular season, Denver and Kansas City were left as co-champions after both earned dramatic draws in matches they trailed late.
• Each squad finished with idential 4-1-1 records and 13 points in Summit play with the Pioneers earning the top seed thanks to defeating Kansas City 2-0 in the opening game of the regular season on Sept. 27.
• That clash was a revenge match after the Roos had won the 2024 Summit League Tournament in thrilling fashion last November, scoring late in the 90th minute off a corner kick to earn a 2-1 victory.
• The loss was the first for the Pioneers in 20 Summit League postseason matches. The only two previous time DU did not hoist the trophy was in 2017 and 2023 when the Pios fell via penalty kicks. Denver enters the 2025 event with a 15-1-4 record and eight Summit League postseason trophies.
• In the regular-season finale, the Pioneers were down 1-0 after the first 10 minutes at St. Thomas and did not find the equalizer until the 86th minute when Keegan Kelly cleaned up a rebound opportunity to level things at 1-1.
• The Roos were down 2-0 to Delaware after 70 minutes and battled back to square things at 2-2 with goals in the 71st and 76th minutes before Delaware regained the lead in the 87th minute.
• The Blue Hens’ lead would not last long, however, as Kansas City earned a penatly in the box and converted from the spot to draw even at 3-3 in the 89th minute on Raphael Kistmann’s second goal of the match.
• The draw for Delaware cost the newcomer a potential share of its own regular season title, keeping the Blue Hens at third place in standings with a 3-1-2 record and 11 points. It also set up a rematch with the second-seeded Roos in the semifinal-round of the 2025 Summit League Men’s Soccer Championship.
• The Pioneers will play Oral Roberts for the second time in eight days as the Golden Eagles garnered the No. 4 seed after emerging with the tiebreaker advantage after finishing in a four-way tie for fourth place with UMass, St. Thomas and Omaha.
• DU won the tilt against ORU last Saturday, 2-0, as the two will meet again in the Mile High City with a trip to the title match on the line. The highest-remaining seed will host the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 15.
• The tournament moved back to a four-team field this season after just having a championship match between the top two seeds a season ago.
• Kansas City (19), Denver (25) and Delaware (42) all have RPIs inside the top 50 entering the postseason.
• Kansas City moved back into both polls this week, sharing the final spot with Indiana in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and taking over the 22nd spot in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25. Denver was the first team outside the USC poll.
• Delaware matched its season average in goals with three against the Roos and is the top-scoring offense among Division I teams. The Blue Hens also boast the most total goals (48) in the country and best goal-differential at plus-39 after yielding just nine goals in 15 matches.
• Sophomore Rich Monath led all Summit League players with six goals in conference play with two of those coming in the finale at Kansas City. Monath has 12 goals overall and Delaware is the only DI squad with three double-digit goal scorers on the campaign. Joining Monath with that distinction is Marius Stenner and Mikey Johnson , who each have 11.
• Denver goalkeeper Isaac Nehme recorded his 34th career shutout in the blanking of the Golden Eagles last Saturday and needs just one more to set the all-time Summit League record.
• Nehme, ORU’s Joao Mesquita and Delaware’s JoJo Elliott, Jr., shared the Summit lead with three clean sheets in conference play.
#SUMMITMSOC
