2025 Week 2 MCLA Recap: Georgia's Rise, Unique MCLA Rivalries and a Surprise Transfer at UCLA
It’s still early in the season, but there have already been some big upsets. Georgia has risen all the way to No. 8 after starting the season at No. 25 thanks to three straight ranked wins. BYU is still the team to beat, but had some close calls against out of conference foes. Not much change in DII, but Miami and UTampa enter the rankings which will make the SELC DII South race interesting.
BYU survives comeback scare
The Cougars started their Northwest trip with a convincing 21-4 win over Washington. They headed down to Eugene on Friday to take on No. 18 Oregon. After leading 11-4 in the fourth quarter, they let the Ducks get a seven goal run before scoring with four seconds left to come away with the win. They finished the road trip with a third win over No. 22 Simon Fraser.
Simon Fraser wins the MCLA’s best unique rivalry
Naturally, college rivalries apply to all sports, including club sports. Colorado-Colorado State, Florida-Florida State, Texas-Texas A&M are always chippy games. Some rivalries, however, are unique to only the MCLA. That is the case with Oregon and Simon Faser. One wouldn’t expect a NCAA DII school in Canada to have any connection to one of the most recognized college sports brands, but the Oregon-SFU rivalry gives them one. The two schools faced off on Sunday with the Red Leafs coming away with the 14-13 win.
Boston College breaks into rankings
Senior goalie Brian Kaskey kept the Eagles in their game against #16 South Carolina, but they unfortunately fell short in overtime. They bounced back the next day with a 11-9 win over #25 Clemson which got them a spot in the rankings for the first time since Week 3 of last season.
South Carolina walks it off in Columbia
Gamecocks move to 1-1 thanks to a blocked shot by Tyler Michinard which led to a Nathan Wofle goal. South Carolina’s next four games are against ranked opponents: Georgia, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, and Liberty.
Florida splits the weekend
Gators started off the weekend with a 14-11 win over No. 8 Tennessee, led by Ethan Heim’s four goals. Their momentum was stopped the next day after they lost to a surging #20 Georgia 8-6 in Athens.
Georgia Tech’s offense keeps rolling
The Yellow Jackets move to 4-0 after picking up wins against Auburn and NC State over the weekend. They are averaging 17 points per game led by the attack line of Brooks Baro (11G/5A), Joseph Rose (10G/1A), and Pierce Quarles (5G/8A).
Iowa State makes team history
The Cyclones beat Minnesota for the first time in program history over the weekend. It was also Minnesota’s first regular season conference loss since 2019 when they joined the UMLC.
Coastal Carolina proves why they’re Top 10
Chants win a close one against No. 13 (DII) Wake Forest on the road. Matt Logan, a member of Harford’s NJCAA Championship team last season, led the scoring with two goals and one assist. Coastal moves to 3-0 under first year Head Coach Earl Brewer, the All-Time Virginia Public HS wins leader.
Virginia Tech wins Blue Ridge Belt
Another rivalry unique to the MCLA, Virginia Tech and Liberty started playing for a trophy last season called the Blue Ridge Belt. Last season they split it, the Hokies winning in the regular season and the Flames in the ALC Playoffs. No. 10 Virginia Tech pulled off the upset over No. 3 Liberty. Senior Alex Ashey led the scoring with six goals and one assist.
Georgia shows they’re a big Dawgs
No. 20 Georgia had the upset of the week over No. 9 Florida the day after the Gators got a huge Top 10 win over Tennessee. It was a full team effort which saw every starting attackman and midfielder score. Goalie Tucker Hoffmann was outstanding, finishing with 15 saves and a 71% save percentage. The Dawgs have another big one next week against No. 18 South Carolina.
UC Santa Barbara takes care of Cal at home
After starting the season on a loss to No. 5 San Diego State, the Gauchos got in the win column with a key out of conference win against No. 14 Cal. After losing starters on both ends of the ball, guys have stepped up all around to keep UCSB one of the top teams in the league. Senior Camden Dwelly led the offense with four goals and four assists and Grad Student goalie Josh Glasman held the defense down with 19 saves.
The game featured a unique coaching matchup. UCSB HC Mike Allan and Cal HC Ned Webster have been friends since they first met at five years old playing rec league in Baltimore. They went to school together through eighth grade before going to rival MIAA schools Gilman and Boys’ Latin. After the two played at Princeton and Notre Dame they both separately moved to California and are now two of the top coaches in the MCLA.
Surprise transfer makes UCLA debut
Mason Kohn, who was the 2023 DIII FOGO of the year before being an All-American at Syracuse last year, made his debut at attack for the Bruins. He’s attending Law School so there was uncertainty if he could play, but he showed out in the team’s win over DII Miami with six goals.
Miami wins in OT on coast to coast goal
No. 25 Miami took a trip out west over the weekend for a DI, DII, and DIII game. After losing to DI UCLA, the Hurricanes won when it mattered over DII LMU, ranked No. 24 at the time. After a point blank save by Cubby Mentkowski, Trey Wyatt ran the ball the whole field and score to win the game. They handled a solid DIII team in Long Beach the next day, 16-9.
Arizona quietly rising in the rankings
After starting unranked, the Wildcats are now No. 22 thanks to a win over a solid USC team. First Team All-Name midfielder Loundenridge Sundling had three goals and three assists. They have four unranked games next and could head into their March matchup against conference opponent and No. 5 San Diego State with a lot of momentum.
Cal Poly, Arizona State take care of business
No. 19 Cal Poly moves to 2-0 after a win over Santa Clara and No. 6 Arizona State gets their first win over Utah Tech. Both teams face huge tests this weekend. The Mustangs will play No. 13 Chapman in Orange County and the Sun Devils host No. 1 BYU in Tempe.