The excitement of post season play is upon us, and the bracket is all set of the Manhattan Christian Men's Soccer squad to kick off play later this week up in Ankeny, IA. 

After an impressive 10-0 win over Central Christian College of the Bible on Senior Day, MCC Thunder secured the #1 seed in the Midwest Christian College Conference with a record of 7-0 (10-5-0 overall).

"I'm proud of how we are playing. After a couple hard fought OT games it was nice to get back on track heading into the conference tournament" commented head coach Dr. Rick Wright.

MCC will take on #4 seed Central Christian College at 12:30pm Friday October 29. 

On a blustery fall day at Anneberg Park the #7 ranked Thunder defeated Central Christian College of the Bible 10-0. The match was a special one for a variety of reasons with the most important one being the celebration of the seniors in the class of 2021. MCC jumped all over the short handed Saints scoring their first goal of the contest less than 5 minutes into the game on a punch in by Ethan Hill with the assist from Caden Miller. Hill would come up with another goal off of an assist from senior, Dakota Fox later in the first half. Along with Hill the Thunder saw Angel Vasquez, Dylan Hayden and Andrew Davis all find pay dirt multiple times while Fox punched in one of his own. 

The match would be called at the 70 minute mark with the Thunder in command 10-0 and the Saints unable to physically continue on the field. With the victory MCC has secured the regular season Conference Championship along with the #1 seed at the Conference Tournament next weekend at Faith Baptist Bible College. The 10 win regular season has also secured the #3 seed at the region tournament in Manhattan on 11/5 and 11/6 where the Thunder will get another crack at #6 Arlington Baptist University in the semifinals. ABU defeated MCC 2-1 in 2OT earlier this month. 

"I'm proud of the boys and their effort during the regular season. They've been able to come together for the common goal and it has shown throughout the year. We're excited for post-season play," commented Assistant Coach Diego Velasco. 

MCC heads to Ankeny, IA as the #1 overall seed at the Midwest Christian College Conference tournament. Game times and seedings will be released early in the week. 

The NCCAA drop the Top 10 Division II Soccer rankings today. Manhattan Christian, after a week at number 6, worked their magic to get back up to the number 5 spot. The Thunder have put together a string of wins, racking in a total of 27 goals in just three games. 

To recap, back on September 21 MCC hosted Kansas Christian College. The Thunder struck first in the 12 minute but would not score again until early in the second period to go up 2-0. The Falcon weren't going away, connecting in the back of the net midway through but it just wasn't enough as MCC took the game 3-1.  

The next two games, Manhattan went on a scoring frenzy against two MCCC opponents. Against Calvary University, the Warriors got the first point on the board but never reached the back of the net after that. MCC took control netting 4 goals in the first period and 7 in the second to take the win 11-1. Next was Ozark Christian and MCC control it from kick off, coming home with a 13-1 win. 

Next up: The Thunder travel to Barclay College for a 5:00pm kick off October 5. 

Manhattan Christian Athletics is excited to announce that both Volleyball and Men’s Soccer are both ranked in the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II Top Ten Rankings. 

After an excellent performance last week, Thunder soccer climbed up from #7 to #5. This caps off a weekend where head coach Dr. Rick Wright reached the milestone of 400 career wins. 

On the volleyball side, the Lady Thunder have had an outstanding start to the season. This past weekend proved some tough competition against two NAIA teams. Despite tough losses, MCC still holds on to the #2 spot for the second week in a row. 

To see both poll in its entirety click here

Dr. Rick Wright earned career victory number 400 on Saturday with a 6-0 victory over the #10 ranked Eagles from Faith Baptist Bible College. The six goals were evenly scored with sophomore Jon Moon getting the party started in the 6' minute off a header assisted by senior Angel Vasquez. The scoring would continue from there as freshman Cody Couch knocked one in unassisted followed by another goal from Moon off of a dime by freshman Caden Miller. 

The Thunder would lead 3-0 at half. In the second frame the game would see more of the same as Vasquez, Cristian Faz and Michael Self would join the party and knock in goals for the Thunder. The win is #400 in the career of Coach Wright. The 2021 NCCAA Hall of Fame inductee will see a magical run come to a close at the end of this season. Wright is a multiple time winner of the National Coach of the Year award and has three national titles with MCC on his resume. 

The Thunder will be back in action tomorrow at 3:00 pm as they play host to Kansas Christian College in a Southwest Region showdown. 

In the first NCCAA coaches poll of the 2021 season the men's soccer team finds themselves ranked #7 in the country. After missing out on an at-large bid to the tourney last season due to COVID cases within the program the team has their sites set on Florida in November. 

"We're honored to be ranked," said Coach Wright, "but the rankings mean nothing at this point. We have to prove it on the pitch."

MCC is off to a 1-3 start on the season, but an encouraging 1-0 start vs NCCAA DII competition. They will be back in action tomorrow at 3:00 pm in Lincoln, NE as they take on Union College before returning home on Friday night for the home opener at 6:00 pm vs Emmaus Bible College. The contest will also mark the return of the 05, 07 and 08 National Championship teams as they honor the alumni at halftime of the contest. 

To see the poll in its entirety click here.