WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
GAMBIER, Ohio – The NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Committee announced Monday the field of 64 teams for the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship, which begins Friday and concludes with the national championship on December 7. Along with the revelation of teams, the Kenyon College Owls found out that they would not only be included in the bracket, but will be hosting the first two rounds.
The Owls, who enter the tournament with a 12-3-3 record, will host the Spalding University Golden Eagles (11-7-2) in a first-round game at 11 a.m. Friday on Mavec Field. Following that contest, Calvin University (14-5-2) and Hamilton College (7-6-3) will square off at 1:30 p.m. The winners of those two games will then meet Saturday at 1 p.m. in a second-round contest that will decide who advances to the NCAA sectional round.
Kenyon, which earned an at-large bid into the tournament, is making its 20th overall and 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. One season ago, the Owls defeated Dominican University, 2-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated via penalty kicks by Washington College in the second round.
The Owls ended the 2024 regular season ranked as the No. 14 team in the United Soccer Coaches’ NCAA Division III poll. No other team in the four-team pod playing in Gambier currently owns a national rank.
Spalding, Kenyon’s first round opponent, earned an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) tournament for the first time in program history. Kenyon and Spalding met on four occasions between the 2013 and 2022 seasons and Kenyon came away a winner all four times. The NCAA appearance will be a first for the Golden Eagles.
In the other first-round game, Calvin, which started out the season ranked at No. 11, lost three of its first five games of the season. The Knights, however, are now on a five-game win streak and an eight-game unbeaten streak. They punched their ticket to the dance by winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament for the 11th time. The appearance in the national bracket will be the 22nd in Calvin’s history.
The Knights’ opponent, Hamilton, lost in the quarterfinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), but the Continentals still managed to earn an at-large berth into the tournament. The showing on the national stage will be Hamilton’s fifth overall and first since 2007.