The No. 5 nationally ranked Trinity Men's Soccer team (6-1-0) looks to bounce back from last week's loss as they return home on Friday to face off against the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (4-3-0).
The Tigers' trip to Abilene saw mixed results, starting with a 2-0 win over Hardin-Simmons that extended their clean sheet streak to five. After a dominant but scoreless first half, Trinity broke through when
Luke Chandler (Glasgow, Scotland / Balfron) set up
Adam Knutson (Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs) for the opener, before Knutson turned provider just a minute later for
Max Salinas (Austin, Texas / Austin) to seal the result. The next night, the Tigers fell 3-2 to No. 10 Christopher Newport in a back-and-forth battle. Chandler struck early to equalize after conceding inside a minute, and
Aiden Perales (Corpus Christi, Texas / Veterans Memorial) pulled one back late, but a red card and timely CNU finishing ended Trinity's unbeaten run at six matches.
Preview
The No. 5 Trinity Tigers look forward to a one-game week as they match up against UC-Santa Cruz on Friday, September 26th, at 6:00 p.m.
On the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs: The Banana Slugs are a somewhat unfamiliar opponent for the Tigers, with the two programs meeting just eight times in their history. Trinity holds a 7-1 edge in the all-time series, with the lone loss coming back in 2006. Their most recent clash was in 2017, a 2-0 win for the Tigers.
Last season, UC-Santa Cruz put together a 6-2-9 record and made a strong run in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, narrowly falling 2-1 in the semifinal to Christopher Newport. Since then, however, they've lost several key players, including both of their First Team All-C2C honorees and half of their Second Team All-C2C selections, so this year's squad is younger but eager to prove themselves.
This fall, the Slugs started hot with three straight wins but have stumbled in recent weeks, dropping three of their last four. Last weekend, they fell 3-1 to the University of Redlands, a team that pushed No. 10 Christopher Newport in a tight 2-1 game, before narrowly losing 1-0 to undefeated Whittier College (6-0-1), whose only blemish so far is a tie against powerhouse Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Players to Watch out for: Key contributors for the Banana Slugs include senior forward Joaquin Greenberg, a Second Team All-C2C honoree last year who has one goal this season, junior midfielder Soren Groessl, also Second Team All-C2C in 2024 and has already bagged three goals and an assist this fall, and then junior defender Michael Braun, who has chipped in an impressive goal and two assists from the back line.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will kick off conference play on Friday, October 3rd, at 6:00 p.m. (ET) against Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, before heading up the road to face Berry College on Sunday, October 5th, at 11:00 a.m. (ET).
