CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The 2021 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Men’s Soccer Tournament is set to kickoff Saturday, October 30 in Decorah and Dubuque after an exciting and action packed regular season around the conference. This year’s tournament will bring a different kind of energy after the cancellation of the NCAA fall championships and no spring make-up last season. Due to this cancellation, there was no Conference Automatic Qualifier Tournament. Entering Saturday, three A-R-C teams are ranked in the NCAA Region IX Rankings - Luther at No. 4, Loras at No. 6, and Dubuque at No. 8. All six teams in the tournament are playing for the A-R-C’s automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament.
The Loras College Duhawks (10-6-2, 5-2-1 A-R-C) come into the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, set to host the No. 6-seed Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves (5-7-3, 2-4-2 A-R-C). The Duhawks enter the match after concluding the regular season with a 2-0 decision at Coe College over the Kohawks. When the two squads met during the regular season, the Duhawks took home the 3-0 win in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nebraska Wesleyan is looking to change its fortunes in the conference tournament from the 2019 season. The Prairie Wolves did not qualify for the 2019 A-R-C Tournament. On the other hand, the Duhawks fell to Luther in the championship match on their home turf. Kickoff is set from the Rock Bowl in Dubuque for a 1:00 p.m. start. The winner will advance and travel to Indianola, Iowa to take on the Storm of Simpson College in the semifinals.
The Wartburg Knights (7-6-3, 4-3-1 A-R-C) enters the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed in 2021 after a 1-1 2OT decision at Luther College to end the regular season Tuesday night. The Knights travel to Decorah, Iowa to take on the No. 4-seed Luther Norse (9-6-3, 4-1-3 A-R-C). The Norse have a storied past in the conference’s 25 year soccer tournament. Luther has qualified for every conference tournament since it began in 1996, and has raised the trophy at the end nine times. The Knights are looking to bounce back in the conference tournament after losing their first round match to Simpson 0-1 in the 2019 A-R-C Tournament.
Looking back at the 2019 tournament, it was the Norse who would go all the way and secure the conference’s bid to the NCAA tournament. Luther would take down the No. 1-seed Central in the semifinal match by the score of 3-0, before taking down the No. 2-seed Loras 2-1 in the championship match. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 30 in Decorah from the Luther College Soccer Field.
The A-R-C regular season champions and No. 1-seed Dubuque Spartans (12-3-1, 8-0 A-R-C) will have a first round bye and will be in action Wednesday, November 3. The Spartans are coming off their second straight conference championship in program history after defeating Central 2-0 Saturday, October 23 to clinch the title outright. They will host the winner of the No. 4 Luther/No. 5 Wartburg matchup in Dubuque, Iowa from Oyen Field on the campus of University of Dubuque.
The No. 2-seed Simpson College Storm (7-6-2, 5-2-1 A-R-C) enter the conference tournament with the highest seeding earned under head coach Rick Isaacson. The Storm concluded their regular season with a 4-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan. Simpson will host the winner of the No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan/No. 3 Loras match on Wednesday, November 3 at Bill Buxton Stadium in Indianola, Iowa.
The semifinal matches will take place on Wednesday, November 3 at the higher seed and the championship match, with the berth to the 2021 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament, set for Saturday, November 6 at the higher seed.
