THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026

No. 4 seed St. Thomas (7-7-2) vs. No. 5 seed Texas Lutheran (5-8-4)

Round Rock Multipurpose Complex | Round Rock, Texas
 

UP NEXT » Texas Lutheran returns to the SCAC Tournament as the fifth seed in the bracket, and will face the No. 4 seed St. Thomas in the first round on Thursday at 5 p.m on FloCollege. The two teams played to a scoreless draw in the regular-season contest between the two programs on Oct. 16. It will be just the second time Texas Lutheran and St. Thomas have squared off in postseason play, with the Celts winning the previous match on penalty kicks during the Spring 2021 SCAC Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT » The regular season ended on a high note for Texas Lutheran as they tied the SCAC regular season champions, No. 22 Colorado College, 1-1 at Gustafson Field on Sunday. In the 81st minute, Luis Briseno (San Antonio/Madison) equalized with his team-leading sixth goal of the season, scoring off the rebound of a Colorado College save.

SHARING THE SCORING » 17 Texas Lutheran players have registered a point this season, nearly matching the point distribution from last season's SCAC Championship squad. Luis Briseno paces the group with 13 points, followed by Alex Isaacson (Round Rock/Round Rock) (10), then Raymond Palmer (San Antonio/Clark) (8). Thirteen of the 17 players have tallied multiple points.

MATCH NOTES » Thursday's contest will be the 12th between the two programs since St. Thomas transitioned from NAIA and joined the SCAC in 2019. St. Thomas leads the all-time series 4-2-5. The two teams have played to scoreless draws in two of their last three matchups. The two programs are responsible for four of the last five SCAC Tournament Championships with St. Thomas three-peating from 2021-23 and the Bulldogs winning it all in 2025. Both teams will need to win the SCAC Tournament to make it to the national stage of the NCAA Tournament.

THE SALAZAR ERA » Head coach Eddie Salazar will be the only coach in the 2026 SCAC Tournament with a SCAC Championship to his name as he led the Bulldogs to tournament championships in 2019 and 2025. His teams are 169-163-39 (.508) in his 21 seasons at the helm. Salazar's 169 victories rank ninth in SCAC history by win total.

THE POWER OF TWO » The Bulldogs have been stellar under Eddie Salazar when scoring multiple goals in a game, holding a record of 50-6-4 (.867) under Salazar in such matches since 2020. This season, the Bulldogs are 4-1 in games with multiple goals, with the lone loss coming last weekend in a 3-2 loss to University of Dallas.

RETURNING PLAYERS » The Bulldogs return six of its primary 11 starters from last season, losing Carlos Longoria, Evan Bremauntz, and Diego Sanchez to graduation and Alex Hart and Max Guzman missing the 2026 season due to knee injuries. The returning contingent includes Ernesto Avila (Houston/Humble), Jesus Carrillo (San Antonio/Reagan), Elijah Lopez (North Richland Hills/Richland), Raymond Palmer (San Antonio/Clark), Evan Pacheco (San Antonio/Central Catholic), and Carson Alldredge (Spring/Klein) who all started more than half of Texas Lutheran's games last season.

SCOUTING THE CELTS » St. Thomas enters the quarterfinals with a 7-7-2 record under third-year head coach Ernesto Ramirez. Junior Hani Ahmadie led the scoring for the Celts with five goals and 11 points during the regular season, with Diego Guerra sitting second on the team in points (10) with four goals and a team-leading two assists. Between the posts, the Celts have played three goalkeepers, combining for a 1.56 goals against average and three shutouts.

NOW AND LATER » No. 5 seed TLU is set to play in the quarterfinals of the SCAC Men's Soccer Championship Tournament against St. Thomas on Thursday, November 5. The match will kick off at 5 p.m. CT, on FloCollege. Should the Bulldogs win on Thursday, they will face have a rematch with the tournament No. 1 seed, Colorado College, on Friday, November 6 at 5 PM at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.