DUBUQUE, Iowa — The University of Dubuque men’s soccer team’s season ended on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at Oyen Field, where No. 5-seeded Simpson College won a penalty shootout 6-5 after the teams played 110 minutes without a goal in the American Rivers Conference tournament semifinal.

The Spartans entered the match as the No. 1 seed and the conference’s regular-season champions, earning a first-round bye. Dubuque had beaten Simpson 3-0 on Senior Day during the regular season, but the Storm arrived in Dubuque with momentum after a 2-1 first-round win at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Neither side broke through in regulation or in two 10-minute overtime periods. Simpson pressed hardest late in the second half, taking six shots and earning two corner kicks between the 76th and 86th minutes while the match remained tied. The Storm finished with 18 shots, including nine on goal, and kept the Spartans scoreless.

In the shootout, Simpson converted six of its seven attempts. Allan Martinez Garcia, Iain Macrae, Sal Fratianni and Tate Downs were among the Storm players who scored from the spot. Both teams missed in the fifth round before Simpson closed out the 6-5 shootout win.

Simpson advances to the American Rivers Conference championship match on Saturday, November 7, 2026, against Loras College. Loras won the other semifinal 1-0 over No. 2-seeded Wartburg College on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, in Waverly, Iowa, on a goal by Joseph Sorce in the 34th minute off an assist from Sam Keen.

It is Simpson’s first appearance in the men’s conference championship match since 2000, and only the third in the program’s 25 conference tournament appearances. The Storm’s lone conference tournament title came in 2000.

The University of Dubuque women host Simpson in the women’s American Rivers Conference championship match on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Oyen Field. The Spartan women reached the final with a 1-0 semifinal win over Central College on November 4, 2026.

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