Soccer
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College Sports
Yehya, Ballard FC competing for USL League Two national title on Saturday
Story Links Live Stream BURLINGTON, Vt. — Utah Valley men’s soccer alum Omar Yehya and Ballard FC will be competing for the USL League Two national championship against Vermont Green FC on Saturday in Burlington. The match is slated for a 5 p.m. MDT kickoff, and will be streamed live on SportsEnginePlay.com. Vermont Green will […]


BURLINGTON, Vt. — Utah Valley men’s soccer alum Omar Yehya and Ballard FC will be competing for the USL League Two national championship against Vermont Green FC on Saturday in Burlington.
The match is slated for a 5 p.m. MDT kickoff, and will be streamed live on SportsEnginePlay.com. Vermont Green will be the hosts, with the game being played at Virtue Field, home of the 2024 NCAA champion Vermont Catamounts.
Yehya, a two-time All-WAC honoree and the WAC’s leading goalscorer in 2024, concluded a highly successful two-year stint as a Wolverine last fall with a 12-goal campaign and a program record-tying 27 points. Yehya was named first team All-Region and became the program’s fifth Academic All-American with his first team selection.
Yehya joined Ballard midway through the 2025 season and made an instant impact in his first appearance for the club. Yehya scored a goal on his debut against Lane United on June 27, then helped secure BFC’s spot in the postseason with an assist against Portland Bangers on July 9. Among Yehya’s teammates are a trio of former WAC rivals in Austin Brummett (San Diego State), Charlie Lanphier (Seattle U), and Stockton Short (Utah Tech).
Ballard FC, which is in its fifth season in the semi-pro USL League Two, is seeking the second national title in the club’s history. Ballard posted a 9-3-2 regular season record to take the Northwest Division crown, and has won four games in a row to secure the Western Conference title and earn a spot in Saturday’s title game.
College Sports
Columbia Falls to host Montana Grizzlies, Air Force Falcons for exhibition soccer match
COLUMBIA FALLS — For the second year in a row, Flip Darling Memorial Field will be the sight of the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, which will bring two Division I women’s soccer programs in the University of Montana and Air Force Academy out for a match. WATCH THE VIDEO: Columbia Falls to host Montana […]


COLUMBIA FALLS — For the second year in a row, Flip Darling Memorial Field will be the sight of the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, which will bring two Division I women’s soccer programs in the University of Montana and Air Force Academy out for a match.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
The showcase was organized by Columbia Falls boys soccer coach O’Brien Byrd, who worked with UM head coach Chris Citowicki to give the fans in the Flathead Valley a one-of-a-kind experience.
“We don’t have this experience in our backyards like other bigger communities have,” Byrd said. “This is very small-town Montana, small-town America, and a population of 6,000 people hosting an event like this, we’re pinching ourselves. It means so much — most importantly, so much to our youth.”
Byrd also said it was Citowicki who coordinated with Air Force to bring them out for the exhibition.
“He has a good connection with the coach, ran it by the coach down there, and here they come,” Byrd said. “They’re gonna arrive on a military plane on Friday, and they’re gonna come to Columbia Falls, Montana.”
This year, the youth soccer players can do more than just watch these teams, as both squads will be hosting their own youth clinics.
“We’re super excited to get the college program coaches to be the head coaches for the clinics and the college players themselves to also assist with the clinics,” Byrd said. “That’ll enhance the game experience because the people attending those clinics will know the names of those players, and having a chance to actually work with those players is a really special gameday experience now with that clinic in their background.
The Air Force clinic will begin at 9:30 a.m. and Montana’s will start at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2.
The match will kick off at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 3.
Click here for more information about the match and clinics.
College Sports
Olympic sports notes
Colorado always has been a hotbed for young talent in women’s soccer. And outside the occasional stadium appearance by the U.S. women’s national team, the Colorado Buffaloes have always boasted the biggest program in the state. That’s about to change. In January, Denver was awarded an expansion franchise for the NWSL, and last week the […]


Colorado always has been a hotbed for young talent in women’s soccer. And outside the occasional stadium appearance by the U.S. women’s national team, the Colorado Buffaloes have always boasted the biggest program in the state.
That’s about to change.
In January, Denver was awarded an expansion franchise for the NWSL, and last week the name and logo was unveiled for the Denver Summit FC. The team will begin play in 2026 at a temporary facility in Centennial before moving to a new stadium near I-25 and Broadway.
It will be the first professional women’s soccer franchise to call Denver home, and the Summit already has a significant tie to Boulder with the hiring of CU alum Jen Millet as team president. The new pro team will not be a direct competitor with CU in terms of the ticket-buying public — the NWSL season begins in March — and CU head coach Danny Sanchez has come around to the concept of the Summit magnifying the interest in women’s soccer across the state.
“If you’d have asked me years ago, maybe not,” Sanchez said when asked about the Summit’s potential impact on the CU program. “Now that I’ve seen how they’re doing it — the ownership group, where they’re putting the stadium, the people they’ve hired for front office, they’re doing it right. I think that’s really driving the attention and the excitement.
“Pro players, we hear from all of them. They would love to play for the Summit, short-term or long-term. Because this is a great place to live. I think it does raise the profile of soccer in the state. I know talking to our players or recruits, their dream would be to play for the Denver NWSL team someday.”
Staff addition
With preseason practice set to open next week, CU volleyball head coach Jesse Mahoney added Cassidy Baird to his staff as an assistant coach.
Baird spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky, and prior to that she was the director of operations at North Dakota. As a player, Baird spent two seasons playing for Mahoney at the University of Denver before he took the job at CU.
CU opens the preseason, its 10th under Mahoney, with its first practice on Monday. CU hosts its annual Black and Gold Intrasquad scrimmage on Aug. 23 and opens the regular season against Cleveland State on Aug. 29 in Laramie, Wyo.
Notable
Carolyn Fuller, a junior on the CU women’s golf team, won the Colorado Golf Association stroke play championship earlier this month. … Fuller and Buffs teammate Maya McVey, a transfer from Central Missouri, both will compete at the US Women’s Amateur, which begins Aug. 4 at Brandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon. … The CU women’s soccer team hosts Colorado College for an exhibition match on Aug. 7. … On Tuesday, Jack Holland and Justin Biwer from the CU men’s golf team were named All-American Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America. … Biwer, Parker Paxton and Hunter Swanson all are set to play in the men’s US Amateur beginning Aug. 11 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Ty Holbrook is an alternate for the tournament.
Originally Published:
College Sports
Konde Gwo named G. Steven Larson NACC Student
Story Links MILWAUKEE – Edgewood College soccer student-athlete Miguel Konde Gwo has been named the 2024-2025 G. Steven Larson Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Student-Athlete of the Year for men’s sports, as selected by the league’s Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC). Konde Gwo is the first men’s honoree from Edgewood in the award’s 18-year history. Konde Gwo, a native of Marseille, […]


MILWAUKEE – Edgewood College soccer student-athlete Miguel Konde Gwo has been named the 2024-2025 G. Steven Larson Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Student-Athlete of the Year for men’s sports, as selected by the league’s Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC).
Konde Gwo is the first men’s honoree from Edgewood in the award’s 18-year history.
Konde Gwo, a native of Marseille, France, was a key component of Edgewood’s 2024 NACC regular-season championship squad that went 17-2-2 overall and topped the league table with a 10-0-1 mark. It was the Eagles’ first NACC men’s soccer title and the first regular-season conference title for the program since winning the Lake Michigan Conference crown in 2000 and was just two years removed from back-to-back 13th-place league finishes. He is a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, earning first-time honors this past season and third-team honors in 2023. Konde Gwo is also a two-time first-team All-NACC selection (2023, 2024).
Konde Gwo was the Eagles’ second-leading scorer in 2024, registering 44 points on 17 goals and 10 assists in 21 starts. Six of his goals were game-winners, which ranked second on the team, and he converted his lone penalty-kick attempt. He was named NACC Men’s Soccer Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 7-14, 2024, after tallying four goals against Aurora to match the program’s single-game record for goals. Konde Gwo also tallied three goals and two assists each in victories over UW-Stout (Sept. 8) and UW-River Falls (Sept. 14).
In 40 career games as an Eagle, Konde Gwo tallied 74 points on 31 goals and 12 assists while recording 11 game-winning goals. He scored on 24.6 percent (31-of-126) of his shots.
Alongside members of the Edgewood men’s soccer team, Konde Gwo spent time volunteering on weekends to teach children aged 5-13 the basics of the game of soccer, and – for some age groups – even more advanced techniques or strategy.
Elsewhere on campus, Konde Gwo served as an assistant in Edgewood’s Mission, Value, and Inclusion Office, tracking and creating events for various groups on campus ranging from prayer sessions, making sure recreational rooms and prayer rooms were adequately supplied with the necessary supplies, and tracking and restocking the pantry rooms as necessary to make sure that any food or self-care items that students might need would be available.
“Four years ago, when I was prepping my college applications, had you told me that I would find my passion in helping people and would want to do nothing but that for the rest of my life, I probably would have laughed and told you that I could see myself doing nothing else in life but professional football,” Konde Gwo mentioned in his personal statement. “I had secured a spot on Olympic de Marseille’s [Under-19] squad and only planned to attend college until the COVID-19 travel bans were lifted – one year. In my first year, however, I took two humanities classes – 20th Century History and Global Economics – that, along with much other knowledge gained, may have planted the seed for my current passion to help. In the fall of year two, courses in Criminal Law and Due Process galvanized a decision to pursue law school. However, it wasn’t just about helping the criminal justice system; it became about society as a whole for me, how the rule of law could be used to better the lives of everyday citizens regardless of religion, race, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity.”
“The founders promulgated the constitution with hopes of a new world in which the people governed themselves, and people – mostly white men – had reasonable freedom to live their lives as they pleased. In the contemporary era, as a society, we have been trying to extend the constitution to people that it may not have included at the time of its creation, whether because of the language or the misguided views of that time. We have come a long way, yet there remains distance to be covered because, in theory, the laws of our current society apply to everyone equally. However, in practice, there are many instances where that is not the case – due to varying factors.”
After two years of playing soccer at scholarship programs, Konde Gwo matriculated to Edgewood. “At Edgewood College, I found my people,” he noted. “[P]eople who shared my desire to nudge society an inch towards the positive, each in their own way. I started by getting an assistant position that pretty much dealt with every department of campus, then secured an internship at the federal Public Defense Office of the Western District of Wisconsin – the first ever undergrad student to do so. This is where I learned what a public defenders’ job is about, unlike the common mistaken perception their job isn’t necessarily about getting criminals off, their actualy job is to make sure that individuals rights aren’t being violated in the process of administrating justice, to ensure that the government remains just and equitable, not subject the people to cruel and unjust punishment.”
His experience in the public defender’s office led Konde Gwo, as vice-president of Edgewood’s Criminal Justice Association, to coordinate events on campus that he hoped would emphasize the need to keep the criminal justice system proper and fair to avoid harming innocents in the quest to punish the guilty. On two occations, Edgewood hosted conversations with death row exoneree Ray Krone. Additionally, Konde Gwo coordinated and moderated a panel consisting of a federal judge who had previously served as a federal prosecutor and a pair of federal public defenders, allowing each panelist to describe the pros and cons of their positions, discuss their respective career paths, and educate attendees about other positions in the criminal justice system that don’t necessarily require a law degree.
“This association is personal to me,” added Konde Gwo, “because it was a way to inform students across campus about the law school path, regardless of the type of law they wanted to practice [or knew] where to begin. It also promulgated public interest as a whole – other public interest jobs you could do to benefit society without having to go to law school.”
In the future, Konde Gwo plans to facilitate an LSAT study group with students who have expressed needing help with the LSAT and the law school application process.
“My journey at Edgewood College has been academically challenging yet insightful, community-like, and it has equipped me with the necessary skills to succeed wherever my journey takes me next,” concluded Konde Gwo.
Konde Gwo graduated summa cum laude in May 2025 with a 3.91 grade-point average while majoring in criminal justice. He is a two-time NACC Scholar-Athlete and was selected Academic All-District (first team) and Academic All-America (second team) by College Sports Communicators in 2024. Konde Gwo was also named to the Edgewood College Dean’s List in both 2023 and 2024.
About the NACC Student-Athlete of the Year
Each of the NACC’s 13 coeducational members may nominate one male student-athlete for the annual award. The NACC Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC) uses a combination of the following criteria in the selection of the award: athletic excellence, academic achievement, service and leadership, and a personal statement.
Effective with the 2022-2023 academic year, the award was renamed in honor and memory of NACC founding commissioner Dr. G. Steven Larson. Larson oversaw the NACC from 2006-2020, assuming the commissioner’s role after 20 years as director of athletics and head men’s basketball coach at Edgewood College. During his final 11 years at Edgewood, he also served as commissioner of the Lake Michigan Conference (LMC). Larson passed away in December 2021.
Other 2024-25 G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athlete of the Year nominees – Men’s Sports: Braeden Duncan, Aurora University, golf; Tyler Dorsch, Concordia University Chicago, baseball; Max Esposito, Concordia University Wisconsin, lacrosse; Zak Keegan, Lakeland University, baseball; Logan Rademan, Marian University, baseball; Joseph Stagowski, Rockford University, baseball; Brett Boelkow, St. Norbert College, football; Isaiah Herried, Wisconsin Lutheran College, cross country/track & field
G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athlete of the Year Award – Men’s Sports
Recipients By Year
2024-25: Miguel Konde Gwo, Edgewood
2023-24: Ryan Broeckel, Wisconsin Lutheran
2022-23: Mikolaj (Nick) Kowalczyk, Dominican
2021-22: Justin Sartori, Aurora
2020-21: Gavin Zimbelman, Aurora & Ted Howell, Illinois Tech
2019-20: Ethan Klosak, Dominican
2018-19: Quin Krisik, MSOE
2017-18: Kevin Coppin, Concordia Chicago
2016-17: Eric Kittel, Concordia Wisconsin
2015-16: Logan Andryk, MSOE
2014-15: Logan Marvin, Dominican & Aaron Roeseler, Wisconsin Lutheran
2013-14: Eric Zeitler, Wisconsin Lutheran
2012-13: Doug Ingold, Aurora
2011-12: Tim Mackey, Aurora
2010-11: Austin Meier, MSOE
2009-10: Steve Salazar, Aurora & Brock Solveson, Concordia Wisconsin
2008-09: Zach Bickel, Concordia Chicago
2007-08*: Jordan Van Ess, Marian
*inaugural award
College Sports
Bicentennial moments
This is the second in a series of five stories highlighting the greatest sports moments in Adams County history as it celebrates its bicentennial. QUINCY — The definition of a dynasty, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time.” Here’s what it could say. […]


This is the second in a series of five stories highlighting the greatest sports moments in Adams County history as it celebrates its bicentennial.
QUINCY — The definition of a dynasty, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time.”
Here’s what it could say.
“See Quincy College soccer.”
From 1971 through 1981, the Hawks won nine NAIA men’s soccer national championships and lost in the national semifinals the other two years. Their five consecutive championships from 1977-81 are an NAIA men’s soccer record and the nine titles in 11 seasons is outdone by only two programs across all NAIA sports.
The Grand View men’s wrestling program won nine consecutive titles from 2012-20 and has won 13 of the last 14 national crowns. The Azusa Pacific men’s outdoor track and field team won seven straight titles from 1983-89 and 11 in a 13-year span.
Quincy’s 11 national titles — the Hawks won in 1966 and 1967 — are the most in NAIA men’s soccer history with Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) second on the list with nine titles. And the Hawks haven’t been an NAIA program since 1986.
The championships aren’t the mentions of Quincy found in the NAIA record book.
The 1976 national semifinal matchup with Simon Fraser remains the longest game played in NAIA postseason history. The Hawks had their string of three consecutive nationals end with a 2-1 loss to Simon Fraser in 14 overtimes. The game lasted 221 minutes 43 seconds.
Imagine if the Hawks had won that game. It could have been nine national titles in a row.
That’s unprecedented in Adams County.
None of the six high schools have won three or more consecutive state titles in any sport, and only the 1981 Quincy High School boys basketball team was tabbed as the national champion. The Quincy Jets qualified for three Amateur Softball Association national tournaments and dominated play on the state and regional level.
The South Side Boat Club rowing team won national championships in the eight-man event in 1904 and the four-man event in 1905.
But only one Adams County program can be called a dynasty.
The QC program — the school’s name was officially changed to Quincy University in 1993 — won its first NAIA national title in 1966, going 13-0-0 in Roger Francour’s second season as head coach. The Hawks repeated as national champions in 1967, and Francour stepped aside the following year.
Jack Mackenzie, a St. Louis native, was hired in 1969 and the program became synonymous with winning. The Hawks won a national championship in 1971 in Mackzenie’s third season, finishing 17-2-0 after beating Davis & Elkins 1-0 in the title game.
For the next 12 seasons, Quincy was at the forefront of the soccer boom.
The Hawks won three consecutive titles from 1973-75, losing only seven matches in that span and finishing the 1975 season with a 19-1-0 record. After the 14-overtime loss to Simon Fraser in 1976, the Hawks roared back in 1977 to go 19-3-0 and beat Keene State 3-0 for the national title.
The championship didn’t leave Quincy for four more years.
By the end of the 1981 season, the Hawks had made history with five consecutive titles. The 1981 team finished 21-3-1, setting the program’s single-season record for victories that has been matched only by the 2014 team that reached the NCAA Division II final four, and beat Alderson Broaddus 4-1 in the title game.
In 1982, Quincy lost to Belhaven in the national quarterfinals, effectively ending the dynasty.
All told, from 1970 when the Hawks finished as the national runner-up to 1982, they went 218-43-15. That’s an .817 winning percentage.
Mackenzie continued coaching the Hawks through the 2011 season, retiring with a 516-258-76 overall record. He was named the NAIA Coach of the Year four times and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, the United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Players Hall of Fame and the QU Hall of Fame.
Mackenzie passed away in 2018 at the age of 77, but he left a legacy unmatched.
So did his teams.
They became the epitome of a college soccer dynasty.

Below is a look at the longest championship streaks in NAIA history:
Baseball — Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), 6, 1987-92
Men’s basketball — Tennessee State, 3, 1957-59; Kentucky State, 3, 1970-72
Women’s basketball — Southern Nazarene 4, 1994-97; Oklahoma City, 4, 1999-2002
Football — Carroll, 4, 2002-05
Men’s golf — Sam Houston State, 4, 1978-81; Huntingdon, 4, 1985-88; Oklahoma City, 4, 2001-04
Women’s golf — Oklahoma City, 5, 2005-09
Men’s outdoor track and field — Azusa Pacific, 7, 1983-89
Women’s outdoor track and field — Prairie View A&M, 9, 1982-90
Men’s soccer — Quincy, 5, 1977-81
Women’s soccer — Lee, 4, 2008-11
Softball — Oklahoma City, 4, 1994-97
Men’s swimming and diving — Simon Fraser, 9, 1972-80
Women’s swimming and diving — Simon Fraser, 5, 2000-04
Women’s volleyball — Hawaii-Hilo, 4, 1981-84; BYU-Hawaii, 4, 1994-97; Fresno Pacific, 4, 2007-10
Wrestling — Grandview, 9, 2012-20
College Sports
Men's Soccer Dedicates Coaches Award in Memory of Mike McIlwain
Story Links COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland men’s soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski has dedicated the team’s annual Coaches Award in honor of former player Mike McIlwain. McIlwain passed away on June 6 after a courageous battle with cancer. “It is my distinct honor to dedicate our Coaches Award in memory of Mike McIlwain.”, said head […]


COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland men’s soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski has dedicated the team’s annual Coaches Award in honor of former player Mike McIlwain. McIlwain passed away on June 6 after a courageous battle with cancer.
“It is my distinct honor to dedicate our Coaches Award in memory of Mike McIlwain.”, said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “Mike was one of the very first student-athletes I recruited, and he played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for our early success here at Maryland. He exemplified professionalism in everything he did and was the ultimate teammate. Mike carried that same passion and dedication into his professional life, selflessly serving his patients and giving back to his community. Above all, he was a devoted husband and father who always put his family first. There is no one more deserving of this recognition. Mike’s legacy will forever be woven into the fabric of this program.”
McIlwain played at Maryland from 1994-97, and was a member of the 1996 team that won the first ACC championship under coach Cirovski. Over his four years in College Park, McIlwain played in 67 games and made 16 starts. He finished his career with 13 goals and 10 assists, and helped lead the Terrapins to four consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. Maryland was the only program in the nation during that four-year span that reached the Sweet 16 every year. The team’s 16 wins during the 1997 were the most in school history at the time.
Following his time at Maryland, McIlwain went to graduate school at the University of Florida to study dentistry. He brought the same hard work and dedication he learned on the soccer pitch to his next career, becoming a Diplomate and Fellow of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. For over 20 years Mike dedicated himself to his patients and his community, offering outstanding care and supporting families. He dedicated himself to many outstanding organizations, including donating his time and expertise to the Tampa Bay Cleft and Craniofacial Center.
Mike’s love for soccer continued after his playing days, as a youth coach for Tampa Bay United. He loved mentoring young athletes, and strived to develop the same love for the game that he learned as a youth player.
Mike McIlwain is survived by his loving wife Cristina Yarnoz McIlwain, their three children: Ella, Grayson, and Lucia. He will be remembered for his tireless dedication to his family and his community.
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