Tars Punch Ticket to National Semifinals

WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 6, 2025) - Men's soccer continued their hot streak on Saturday, blowing past #6 seed Mississippi College 5-1 to earn a bid to the national semifinals in the 2025 NCAA DII Men's Soccer Championship. The win moves Rollins to 13-4-5 on the season, while the Choctaws finish at 15-3-4 overall.

Rollins set the tone early with a shot on goal just 30 seconds into the game that was saved by Mississippi. Though no goal was scored, it was a preview of the aggressive play style that the Tars would be displaying throughout the day. Three more shots went towards the Choctaw goal in the next five minutes, but none were on target. 

Mississippi was the first team to strike on their first on-target shot of the game. Working off a throw in from Daniel Richards, a perfect header from Gage Sorey landed at the feet of Sergio Garrido, who promptly ripped a shot from 18 yards out to give the Choctaws a 1-0 lead. 

All that goal did was light a fire under Rollins. Just five minutes later, Kaden Foreman placed a beautiful cross into attacking position, with Michel Hoelscher collecting. After working past a defender, he dropped a pass to Finlay Prain, who easily found the net to knot the game at one in the 17th minute. 

Moments later, after Kilian Vallnat stopped a shot for the Tars, the counter attack produced another goal. This time, Foreman found space and delivered a crispy dime to Pablo Herrero, who was able to beat Cole Turner for the 2-1 advantage. 

In the 30th minute, the Tars defense showed their strength, forcing a turnover on the Mississippi side of the field, leading to an advantage. Finlay Prain received the ball near the box and toyed with both Turner and the Choctaw defense before passing off to Justin Nelson, who blasted hom a rocket for a 3-1 Tars lead. 

Just three minutes later, Rollins was at it again. This time, after a failed corner situation, Yousef Shakweer found himself with the ball near the tp of the box. He passed out to Herrero on the wing, who immediately sent a high floater into the box. Defender Hayden Judge was still hanging around off the corner set-piece, and outjumped his defender, putting his head in the right spot to bop the ball past Turner for the Tars' fourth goal. 

Following the halftime break, there was one more goal to add to the tally. In the 57th minute, Pablo Herrero once again displayed impeccable ball-handling and patience, finding space in a sea of defenders before ripping a missile to the far side of the net for another Rollins goal. 

From there, it was 34 minutes of ball control, patience, and solid defense. The Choctaws only managed three more shots on target in the half, all of which were saved by Vallant as he preserved the 5-1 victory. 

The win propels Rollins to the national semifinal in Colorado Springs next weekend. They await a re-draw of the final four teams after all games conclude on Saturday. The Tars will find out their opponent on Sunday, December 7. 

This will be the first trip to the semifinal for men's soccer since 2010, when they were national runners-up.