Midwest Roundup - Week 7

By D3soccer.com Contributor

It is tough to believe, but the 2016 Division III Men’s Soccer regular season is slowly coming to a close, with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season. As the final weeks of conference play come upon us, teams are making their final pushes towards the postseason. As we look around the Midwest, there has continued to be excitement throughout every conference as the action has really heated up in October.

ILLINOIS

Chicago (14-0-0 / 4-0-0) continues their perfect season, winning two more games this past week. First, the Maroons beat Brandeis by a 2-1 score before blanking New York in a 5-0 rout. Remaining undefeated at this point in the year is no easy feat, and doing so in the UAA is even more impressive. Having only allowed 5 goals in 14 games, expect Coach Mike Babst and his boys to keep on grinding out results.

Benedictine lost their most recent game against Milwaukee Engineering, but at 10-4-1 overall, it was only the Eagles first loss in the past ten games, having won eight and tied once. Currently in second place in the NACC at 6-1-0, the team is led by Nick Kapetanos’ impressive tally of 18 goals and 5 assists. First-year head coach Attila Schmidt will be pushing his team to win their last three and, if they do, clinch a regular season conference crown.

TENNESSEE

Maryville (Tenn.) (12-2-0 / 7-1-0) just keeps on winning. The Scots earned their seventh and eighth straight wins this week, tallying 11 goals over two games as they beat Averett and William Peace. Their hopes for a regular season conference championship will come down to their next USA South game against leaders North Carolina Wesleyan.

KENTUCKY

Transylvania (8-2-3) picked up two important HCAC wins this past week. Before beating Manchester by a 2-0 score, Coach Matt Vogel’s team took down favorite Hanover in a 1-0 shutout win at home. The Pioneers have won three straight, are undefeated in four, and currently sit in third place in the conference standings at 3-1-1. Blake Chidester paces the team with 7 goals on the year and the Pios will need to finish strong with four games remaining.

Spalding (7-6-0 / 5-0-0) continues their run of form with another win this weekend, blanking Eureka in a 6-0 blowout at home. The Golden Eagles have now won six straight games and sit atop the SLIAC standings in first place with four games remaining. Four shutouts in their last five games has led to Spalding’s recent success.

OHIO

The Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan have casually started NCAC play undefeated. At 8-2-3 overall and 3-0-2 in conference, coach Jay Martin’s team are slowly picking up steam as they near the postseason. Wins over Wooster and Allegheny this past week have the group feeling confident ahead of a string of three tough conference games against DePauw, Oberlin, and Kenyon.

John Carroll (7-5-2) has quietly ascended to the top of the OAC standings, posting an undefeated 4-0-1 conference record. This includes wins over Wilmington, Heidelberg, Marietta, and Baldwin-Wallace, and also a tie at Ohio Northern in their most recent contest. The Blue Streaks went toe-to-toe for 110 minutes against the Polar Bears and coach Hector Marinaro will feel optimistic of his team’s chances at both a regular season and conference tournament title. Home games against Otterbein and Capital–on Senior Night–will dictate the final conference standings.

INDIANA

After suffering five straight losses leading up to conference action, Rose-Hulman (9-5-0) has opened play in the HCAC with five straight wins. The Engineers are top of the table with just four games remaining, having beaten Transy, Earlham, Manchester, Anderson, and Defiance. RHIT plays three of its final four games at home and will need to finish strong to secure a Heartland title. GKs Michael Lawrence and Carter Wright, who have split time and combined for a .71 GAA this year, will be leading the way towards the postseason.

This week’s games will play a major role in how the conference standings finish and who gets a chance to play for a conference tournament title in November. Keep an eye out for results this week and make sure to come back for a review of all the action in next week’s Midwest Roundup.

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