No. 20 Colorado College begins its 2025 campaign on Friday, Aug. 29, in Wheaton. Ill. CC celebrates its 75th season this year and will look to make another run deep into the NCAA Tournament. 
 
"We are so excited to take the field in Chicago tomorrow afternoon," head coach Scott Palguta said.  "We have a younger and less experienced group than a year ago, but preseason has been very good and we believe we have the ingredients necessary for a successful season.  The group is unified and hungry for success—I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish in 2025."
 
75 Years
 
From their inaugural season in 1950, the Tigers have built up a legacy and history of championships and tradition. They will be celebrating 75 years of CC soccer the weekend of Sept. 5-7 with a series of different events. For more information, please click here. The timeline for the weekend celebration is:
 

• CC vs Whitman - Thursday, September 4, 4:30 p.m. - Stewart Field
• CC vs Cal Lutheran - Friday, September 5, 7 p.m. - Stewart Field
• CC Men's Soccer Alumni Game – Saturday, September 6, 12:30 p.m.– Stewart Field
• Alumni & Parents' Reception – Saturday, September 6, 3 -5 p.m. - McHugh Commons
• Switchbacks vs Monterey Bay – Saturday, September 6, 7 p.m. – Weidner Field
• CC vs Mary Hardin-Baylor - Sunday, September 7, 12:30 p.m. - Stewart Field

In The Polls

CC was selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2025 SCAC men's soccer title in a vote conducted exclusively by the league's head coaches.

The Tigers, who secured back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2002, advanced to the Second Round for the second-straight year in 2024. Colorado College has amassed an impressive 22-0-5 record in SCAC play over the last three seasons and has not dropped a conference contest since October 2021.  

In the United Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll, CC was ranked No. 20 to open the year. 

 
A Weekend At Wheaton
 
CC is on the road for the Bob Baptista Invitational at Wheaton College in Illinois. The Tigers will take on DePauw University on Friday at 3:30 p.m. MT. The Tigers will then face Wheaton on Saturday at 6 pm MT. 
 
The Tigers were 2-3 in neutral games but 6-0-1 on the road in 2024 and will look to start the year well against two teams that won 10 games last year. DePauw made it to the NCAA Tournament after winning the NCAC Tournament. The Tigers (Depauw) lost to Hope College in the first round of the big dance.
 
Wheaton finished the year with a 10-7-1 record and made it to the CCIW semifinals before falling to North Central College. 
 
Reload and Replenish
 
The Tigers lost eight seniors due to graduation last year, but have replenished their ranks with 11 first-year players. 
 
The junior class also consists of 11 players, including leading scorer Wyatt Linggi, former SCAC Newcomer of the Year Jack Hilliard and the dynamic goalkeeper pair of Alex Wolter and Spencer Besselaar. 
 
Linggi led the team and was 10th in the conference with 18 points, seven goals and four assists ... Named an All-SCAC Second Team selection for the second consecutive season.
 
Hilliard was second on the team with five assists and 15 points. He racked up a team-high 50 shots and 21 shots on goal for a SOG percentage of .420. He was named an All-SCAC Second Team selection.
 
Wolter and Besselaar combined for the seventh-best in the nation in goals against average (0.541). Wolter was named a United Soccer Coaches All-American Second Team selection. 
 
Senior captain Rex Karjian played in all 22 matches and started in 18 of them. He finished the season with 1,616 minutes played, good for third on the team, and led the team and the conference with 10 assists.
 
At The Helm
 
Scott Palguta enters his 11th season at the helm of the Tigers after leading CC to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 2002. In 2024, CC concluded the season with a 16-3-3 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the SCAC regular-season title and climbing as high as No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, it's highest mark ever. 
 
Palguta, along with assistant coaches Sean Elvert and Tomas Martinez, were named the SCAC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second consecutive year, as CC had 12 All-SCAC selections, the most of any team. CC also had two players named United Soccer Coaches All-Americans in Curtis Hale and Alex Wolter. 
 
In the offseason, Palguta hired Kevin Doyle as the new assistant coach and brought back long-time assistant Dan Highstead.  Doyle brings nearly three decades of collegiate coaching experience, including the past 10 seasons at the Air Force Academy, where he served as associate head coach before being elevated to interim head coach for the 2024 season.