ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's soccer team has advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament and will play eighth-ranked Wheaton College (Mass.) on Saturday, Nov. 22 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. The game stats at 1:30 p.m. and follows No. 4 St. Olaf vs. No. 15 Williams College, which kicks off at 11:00 a.m. Saturday's winners play at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22 at St. Olaf's Rolf Mellby Field.

Macalester (17-4), coached by Gregg Olson, earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MIAC Playoffs, defeating St. Olaf at Rolf Mellby Field, 4-1 for the conference title. The Scots hosted NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games on Nov. 15-16, beating Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday and No. 21 UW-Eau Claire on Sunday by identical scores of 2-1 to advance to the third round. Junior forward Zach Liptzin (Denver, Colo./Northfield) and first year midfielder Kuba Ferguson (Houston, Texas/Mirabeau B. Lamar) scored against IWU, while junior midfielder Kasdan Blattman (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine) and senior midfielder Ondieki Maina (Kensington, Calif./El Cerrito) found the net on Sunday's win over the Blugolds.

Maina leads the Scots in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists for 28 points, just ahead of Blattman, who has six goals and 12 assists for 24 points. The two midfielders were named All-MIAC along with senior defender Nick Kent (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park). Liptzin and first year midfielder Gaven Johnson (Harrison, Ohio/William Henry Harrison) received All-MIAC honorable mention.

This is Macalester's 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the third time the Scots have advanced to the third round, where they have a record of 1-0-2. The 2002 squad tied UW-Whitewater in the third round before advancing on penalty kicks. That team fell to Trinity in the quarterfinals. The 1998 team also made the quarterfinals before falling in triple overtime to Greensboro. Overall Macalester is 9-9-5 in NCAA Tournament games.

Wheaton (16-1-4) received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament after winning the NEWMAC regular-season title and losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Lyons, coached by Bryan Waggoner, defeated Neumann, 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, then beat No. 14 Middlebury, 1-0 on a first-half goal by Aidan Doyle to advance to Saturday's game against the Scots. Doyle, Declan Rhatigan and Vinny McGann scored for Wheaton against Neumann. Doyle has team highs of 11 goals, 10 assists and 32 points, and Rhatigan has registered 10 goals and six assists for 26 points. Gael Vera was chosen the NEWMAC Athlete of the Year for Men's Soccer, while Leao Nelson was named the Defensive Athlete of the Year. Michael O'Gara has started 16 games in goal for the Lyons, boasting a goals against average of 0.64 with a save percentage of .821.

Macalester received votes in the final regular-season coaches poll by the United Soccer Coaches and is ranked sixth in the Division III NCAA Power Index (NPI), which was used to select the field for the NCAA Tournament. Wheaton is ranked eighth in the coaches poll and 21st in the NPI rankings. The Scots are one of the hottest teams in the country with a 10-game winning streak. The Lyons are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games.

Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, and $2 for Children ages 3-12. Children two and under are admitted free. Tickets will be available on-site on the day of the game only, starting one hour prior to kickoff of the first game. For more information, visit St. Olaf's NCAA Tournament page.

All three games will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Links to each webcast are in the schedule below.

Click here to view the entire NCAA Division III bracket

2025 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament
Third/Quarterfinal Round - Hosted by St. Olaf College
Saturday, Nov. 22
Williams (10-4-4) at St. Olaf (18-2-3), 11:00 a.m. - Live video | Live stats
Macalester (17-4) vs. Wheaton (16-1-4), 1:30 p.m. - Live video | Live stats
Sunday, Nov. 23
Third-round winners, 1:00 p.m. (video link to be announced following Saturday's games) | Live stats