COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Midwestern State is making its third-ever appearance in the national semifinals and its first since 2010. The No. 3-seeded Mustangs face No. 2-seeded Southern New Hampshire with the winner advancing to the national championship game to face either top-seeded Fort Hays State or fourth-seeded Rollins. Kickoff at Weidner Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

No. 8-ranked Midwestern State (17-3-3, 8-2-0) won the Super Region 4 title by defeating Point Loma in overtime, 3-2, as Dereck Espinal scored the game-winning goal eight minutes into extra time at PLNU Soccer Field. Parker Plaxco scored his 13th goal of the season in the 11th minute, and Gabriel Gacovicaj scored his second goal of the NCAA Tournament in the 64th minute.

Plaxco opened the NCAA Division II Men's Championship for the Mustangs with a game-winning goal in the waning seconds of overtime against Seattle Pacific as the Mustangs won the second-round matchup 1-0.

Midwestern State eliminated Stanislaus State, the top-seeded team in Super Region 4, with a 2-0 victory, holding the Warriors to one shot on goal. Gacovicaj scored his first goal of the year in the 43rd minute, and Espinal capped the victory with a goal in the 90th minute. 

Goalkeeper Jake Morris has only needed to make five saves in three NCAA Tournament games for the Mustangs, and he has posted two clean sheets in the postseason. For the season, Morris has shut out nine opponents. 

During the Mustangs nine-game winning streak, Morris has only conceded three goals, and the Mustangs have outscored their opponents, 17-3. For the season, Midwestern State has outscored its opponents, 44-17.

Morris improved to 11-2-2 with the victory at Point Loma last week, and he has a goals-against average of 0.71. The sophomore from Parker, Colorado, boasts a save percentage of .796 in 16 appearances with 15 starts for the Mustangs.

Daniel Robles started eight games as the MSU goalkeeper, and he is 6-1-1 with 0.76 goals-against average with four clean sheets.

Plaxco leads the Mustangs with 13 goals and 31 points this season. The native of Stephenville, Texas, erupted for four goals in a 4-2 victory over Northwest Nazarene at Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas, just before the start of the conference campaign.

Liam Pritchard, the LSC Midfielder of the Year, leads the team with six assists, and he has scored two goals this season, including the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Lubbock Christian on Oct. 29. Pritchard assisted Plaxco on the game-winning goal against Seattle Pacific, and he assisted Espinal on the game-winning goal at Point Loma in the Super Region 4 final.

Morris, Plaxco and Pritchard were all named to the 2025 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Men's All-South Central Region first team. Defenseman Davis Mays and midfielder Alan Rivera were both chosen for the second team.

Rivera was named the LSC Newcomer of the Year and is tied for seventh in the LSC with five goals this season, including two game-winning strikes. His first goal of the season was the game-winning tally in a 2-0 win over Western Oregon, and he also scored the game-winner in a 2-0 triumph at Oklahoma Christian. Rivera has three assists this season, including one against UT Tyler in the LSC Men's Soccer Championship semifinals at Stang Park on Nov. 12.

Mays, who had an assist in Plaxco's four-goal outburst against Northwest Nazarene, is a fifth-year senior from Wichita Falls who returned home after starting his collegiate career at UT Tyler.  Mays was the LSC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13 after the Mustangs shut out UT Tyler and Oklahoma Christian in back-to-back games. Mays scored the first goal of the season for MSU in a 1-1 draw at Colorado Mesa. Mays played the full 90 minutes in 15 matches this season and logged 1,907 minutes for MSU, going the distance in both overtime wins during the postseason.

Head coach Michael Meachum is in his eighth season at the helm and has led the Mustangs to an impressive 120-25-15 record, winning nearly 80 percent of his games as the head coach.

For the fourth time in the NCAA Tournament, Midwestern State is meeting an opponent it has not faced in the history of the program.

Southern New Hampshire (17-2-2, 7-1-1) defeated Gannon, 5-0, to win the Super Region I championship. Martin Zapata and Inigo Iriarte each scored a goal and had an assist as the Penmen reached the national semifinals for the fourth time in the history of the program and for the first time since 2013.

The Penmen were the No. 1 seed in the region and defeated Bridgeport in the second round of the tournament, 1-0. Martin Fuentes scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute, assisted by Tyler Kraft and Dani Gonzalez. Alvaro Garcia made four saves to preserve the shutout.

Gonzalez and Charlie Preus scored goals for SNHU in a 2-0 victory over Charleston (W. Va.) in the third round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship. Garcia made two saves in the triumph for the Penmen.

Southern New Hampshire has outscored opponents, 56-18, and has taken 201 more shots than the opposition (350-149). The Penmen have put more than 52 percent of their shot on goal (184).

Garcia is 16-2-2 with a 0.87 goals-against average and boasts a save percentage of .721.

Fuentes is the leading goal scorer for SNHU with 11, including two during the NCAA Tournament. The senior from Spain has eight assists and has at least one point in each game of the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzalez is second on the team with 22 points, scoring seven goals and assisting on eight others. Gonzalez scored in each of the last two NCAA Tournament games and had an assist in the win over Bridgeport.

Philipp Herrmann scored twice in the season-opening 4-2 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College, and he scored at least one goal in seven of the first eight games. The senior from Germany has scored 10 goals in 21 appearances for the Penmen this season.

Southern New Hampshire finished second in the Northeast 10 with a 7-1-1 record but lost to Franklin Pierce, 3-2, in the NE10 Championship semifinal. The Penmen are ranked No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25.

Top-seeded Fort Hays State meets No. 4-seeded Rollins in the first semifinal match, and the winner advances to play either Midwestern State or Southern New Hampshire in the championship game. The first semifinal is schedule to begin Friday at 4 p.m. CST.