NAIA No. 24 Olivet Nazarene Earns Favorite Status In Men's Soccer Tournament
CHICAGO --- After allowing just five league goals en route to a perfect conference campaign and the regular-season title, NAIA No. 24-ranked Olivet Nazarene University is the odds-on favorite to collect the postseason hardware, as well, when the 2025 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament kicks off on Wednesday at four separate sites.
The Tigers (15-2-1) went 10-0 during the league season with only two matches being decided by one goal. Those were 1-0 and 2-1 contests against Trinity Christian College and Saint Xavier University, respectively. ONU outscored its league counterparts by a 61-5 margin with five of the ten contests being shutouts.
Speaking of Saint Xavier, the Cougars (11-4-3) hold down the No. 3 seed in the eight-team field with Viterbo University (10-5-2) right in between them and ONU. Those three teams will host first-round matchups on Wednesday as will No. 4 seed Holy Cross College (9-7-1).
Wednesday's complete schedule has No. 8 seed St. Ambrose University (10-8) traveling to Olivet Nazarene, where the Fighting Bees will attempt to snap the Tigers' 11-match win streak. Meanwhile, No. 7 Governors State University (5-12-1) heads north to take on Viterbo, Trinity Christian (8-7-3) takes the short trip over to Saint Xavier and Holy Cross hosts Judson University (6-7-5).
Play continues on Saturday with the two higher remaining seeds hosting the pair of semifinal-round matchups. The championship match takes place the following Wednesday (Nov. 12) at the site of the highest remaining seed with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
For a tournament bracket, go to Bracket.
The complete tournament schedule follows:
Wednesday, November 5 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 8 St. Ambrose (10-8) at No. 1 Olivet Nazarene (15-2-1) --- 6 pm CT
• Match #2: No. 5 Judson (6-7-5) at No. 4 Holy Cross (9-7-1) --- 6 pm CT
• Match #3: No. 7 Governors State (5-12-1) at No. 2 Viterbo (10-5-2) --- 1 pm CT
• Match #4: No. 6 Trinity Christian (8-7-3) at No. 3 Saint Xavier (11-4-3) --- 7 pm CT
Saturday, November 8 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: Winner-Match #1 vs. Winner-Match #2 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)
• Match #6: Winner-Match #3 vs. Winner-Match #4 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)
Wednesday, November 12 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)