Samuel Twenhafel
They squared off in the Cook Inlet Conference and now Anchorage’s Samuel Twenhafel and Vasil Mladenov could face off in the NCAA Division III men’s soccer tournament.
Both players are on teams that are on the same side of the 64-team bracket and could meet in the third round.
Twenhafel is part of a Willamette squad that ranks No. 3 in Region X and owns a 13-2-3 record. The junior defender has started four of 13 games this year and is part of a defensive unit that has posted four shutouts in the last six games.
Vasil Mladenov
Willamette defeated Linfield 5-0 in the Northwest Conference title game to wrap up an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Twenhafel is out of South High. In 2017, as a sophomore, he was part of the Wolverines team that won the state title.
Willamette will play Wisconsin-Platteville in Saturday’s first round.
At Pacific Lutheran, Mladenov is a sophomore defender on a side ranked No. 4 in Region X. The Lutes are 17-3 and earned an at-large berth to the national tournament.
Mladenov is out of Service High. In 2021, as a senior, he was part of the Cougars team that won state.
PLU will face Mary Hardin-Baylor of Texas in the first round Saturday.
Shaylin Cesar
On the women’s side, Juneau’s Shaylin Cesar anchors a Pacific Lutheran team that won its sixth straight Northwest Conference championship to clinch another berth to the NCAA D3 Championships.
PLU is 16-1-3 this season and hasn’t lost since Sept. 22.
Cesar is a senior goalkeeper who is the primary netminder, playing 1,502 of the team’s 1,800 minutes. The Lutes are 13-1-3 with the Alaskan in net.
PLU plays unbeaten Mary Hardin-Baylor (16-0-1) in Saturday’s first round.
ALASKA PLAYER NOTES
- Anchorage’s Jack Green (West) earned an assist on the first goal of American’s 3-1 upset win over No. 1 seed Army in double-OT of the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. American will face Navy in Saturday’s title game. It was his 17th point in 54 career games.
- Southern Oregon and Anchorage’s Madison Childers (Dimond) are still in the running for a berth to the NAIA Championships despite dropping a 1-0 decision to College of Southern Idaho in the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament semifinals. The loss snapped Southern Oregon’s school-record 12-game unbeaten streak. The Raiders learn of their postseason fate Monday.
- Columbia Basin and Palmer’s Ashley Waters (Wasilla) will play Clark in Friday’s semifinals of the NWAC Championships. Waters is a freshman defender.
- Anchorage’s Hatcher Manning (Service) scored his first college goal for Western Washington last weekend in a 3-0 victory over Montana State Billings. Manning is a redshirt freshman who broke his foot last season.
- North Pole’s Joey Van Horn of Seattle Pacific registered an assist on a goal in a 3-2 loss to Saint Martin’s last weekend. This comes shortly after his two-goal game against Saint Martin’s on Halloween.
- Soldotna’s Maddie Kindred (Soldotna) and Minot State lost 2-0 in double-OT to Bemidji State in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Finals. The game was scoreless until the 97th minute. Kindred had been unbeaten in her previous 15 appearances dating back to Sept. 11. She has a 25-11-11 career record with 26 shutouts in 47 games.
Minot State keeper Maddie Kindred of Soldotna. Photo by Sean Arbaut