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History
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A goal in the 75th minute allowed Luther College to hand the Macalester College men’s soccer team its first loss of the season, 1-0 in a non-conference match Sunday afternoon at John Leaney Field at Macalester Stadium. The Scots, who hadn’t surrendered a goal in the first 344 minutes of the new season, drop to 3-1, while the Norse improve to 3-1.
After a scoreless first half, senior midfielder Ondieki Maina (Kensington, Calif./El Cerrito) fired a shot in the 54th minute that glanced off the gloves of Luther goalkeeper Aitor Lopez and bounced off the crossbar. Then in the 75th minute, Lucas Rojas received a pass from Lenny Lechner and placed a shot into the upper right corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead. Macalester responded with five shots in the final 15 minutes, including two chances by senior defender Nick Kent (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park) off corner kicks that were saved by Lopez. Maina also had an opportunity in the 83rd minute that went wide. Macalester had two corner kicks in the final minute but the Norse held on to the win.
First year goalkeeper Justin Ratner (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) made his first career start and registered three saves. The Scots held an 11-9 edge in shots taken, as Lopez tallied three saves for the shutout.
Macalester returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 10 with a non-conference game at No. 12 UW-Superior. The match starts at 7:00 p.m. in Superior, Wis.
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History
STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Soccer is enjoying its best stretch in program history.
The Texans (5-2-1) scored two goals in the first four minutes of the game on Sunday against McNeese (1-5-2) at the Tarleton State Soccer Complex in Stephenville, and never let up, earning their third straight win. This marks the longest winning streak in program history, and the Texans have posted back-to-back shutouts, allowing just two goals over their last six games.
Tarleton State scored two goals within 32 seconds of each other in the first four minutes, with Avery Harr recording her second goal of the year 3:20 into the game (Sammy Schulze on the assist), then Reegan Wagg tallying her first goal of the year just 3:52 into the game (Stevie Reynolds on the assist).
It was an onslaught of shots for the Texans in the first half, outshooting the Cowgirls 16-1.
In the second half, Kaitlyn Flanagan scored her second goal of the season (assist to Jaycie Bass) in the 62nd minute, then Gabrielle Williams scored her first goal as a Texan to cap things off in the 86th minute (unassisted).
Tarleton State split the halves between goal keepers Mikayla Kendall and Emma Barnes, like they have for much of the season. Both goal keepers were flawless once again, with Kendall posting four saves.
Now through eight games, Tarleton State has allowed just five goals, including five straight halves of scoreless action. Tarleton State’s opponents have scored multiple goals in a game just once this year and have been blanked five times. The Texans have outscored their opponents 17-5.
On Sunday, the Texans outshot the Cowgirls 23-11 and had an 11-3 corner kick advantage. Teeghan Dodd played the most minutes for Tarleton State (86), and 23 of the Purple and White’s 27-woman roster played.
Tarleton State is now 3-0 on its five-game homestand. The Texans will continue their stretch on Stephenville on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Alcorn State, which will serve as “9/11 Remembrance” to help honor the victims from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
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Chelsea have suffered another injury blow at the start of the 2025–26 season, with midfielder Dário Essugo sustaining a knock while away on international duty during the September break.
Enzo Maresca has already lost Levi Colwill to an ACL tear and have been forced to mitigate their previous two Premier League outings without talisman Cole Palmer due to a groin issue.
Fortunately, the player traders at BlueCo were at it again in the summer, with Chelsea adding 10 to their ranks in a bid to cope with a more demanding schedule off the back of last season’s qualification for the Champions League.
Among those signed was 20-year-old Essugo, who joined from Sporting CP for £18.5 million ($23.9 million) in June. Essugo complements a fairly busy midfield depth chart, and the young midfielder isn’t expected to play a major role for the Blues during his first in west London. The Portuguese earned 38 minutes of action across three appearances at Chelsea’s successful Club World Cup campaign, but is yet to take to the field at the start of his Premier League career.
In September, Essugo was called up to the Portugal U21s squad, but he’s since been forced to withdraw after picking up an injury.
“The Chelsea midfielder was excused from training due to a muscle problem in his right thigh, which he suffered after training on Monday,” the Portuguese Football Federation confirmed. “The athlete was evaluated by the Portuguese Football Federation’s Health and Performance Department on Tuesday morning and was declared unavailable.”
Essugo’s primary role this season is to provide cover for Moisés Caicedo, whose own international break has been plagued by fitness concerns.
The Ecuador midfielder sat out his side’s first game and was spotted training with a brace around his knee, although the belief is that this absence was more precautionary than as a result of a genuine injury.
Indeed, local reports suggest the decision has already been made to restore Caicedo to Ecuador’s starting lineup against Argentina, viewed as the more important fixture compared to the recent 0–0 draw with Paraguay.
Source: https://www.si.com/soccer/chelsea-lose-midfielder-injury-international-duty
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Dallas Trinity‘s academy player Rhea Moore made history on Saturday night, becoming the youngest goal scorer in any women’s professional soccer match in the United States.
At just 15 years and 332 days old, Moore scored in her professional debut (vs Sporting JAX on Saturday, September 6, 2025), securing her place in the record books when she grabbed the game-winner off a poor outlet pass versus Sporting JAX in the USL Super League.
“It caught me by surprise. This is just a dream come true. I’m super happy. My team was just supporting and cheering for me… It feels amazing. I’m super happy and grateful that all my teammates were there and I got this opportunity.”
Rhea Moore
A Sacramento, California native and Dallas Trinity FC academy player, Moore joined the club this fall.
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Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 Orbit College
Defending champions Kaizer Chiefs started their DStv Diski Challenge campaign with a 2-1 victory over Orbit College on Sunday afternoon.
Orbit were dealt an early blow when captain Ikaneng Ramosala was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge.
Chiefs took full advantage on when Pheko Phago opened the scoring on 13 minutes with his first goal of the campaign.
Despite being a player down, Orbit managed to level matters in the 33rd minute, with Lucky Malatsi finishing off a well-worked team move.
However, Chiefs restored their lead before the halftime break when Neo Bohloko converted a penalty.
The Soweto giants also finished the game with 10 players after Imaan Hendricks was sent off for dangerous tackle on goalkeeper Kopano Segoe.
AmaZulu 1-4 Stellenbosch FC
Stellenbosch FC enjoyed a fine start to the season by thrashing AmaZulu 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Last season’s runners-up took the lead after just four minutes courtesy of a lovely goal from Kyle Bailey.
The lead was doubled in the 13th minute through Kenan Johanessen, who fired home from close range.
Kwanele Mbayi did pull a goal back for Usuthu ten minutes before the halftime break.
However, the Cape Winelands outfit carried that dominance into the second half, as Johanessen and Turic Gameldin completed the rout.
Mamelodi Sundowns 1-1 Siwelele
Mamelodi Sundowns were unable to start the season with a win after drawing 1-1 with Siwelele FC on Sunday morning.
Manelis Mazibuko gave Siwelele the lead after 20 minutes into the contest, before Oarabile Booysen levelled matters for the Brazilians just before the halftime break.
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