HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — When the first half of the 2026 Gulf South Championship title match ended, the Trevecca Nazarene University men's soccer team appeared poised to complete their GSC season with a championship banner.
It was not meant to be.
The Trojans (14-2-2) yielded three second half tallies as the West Alabama Tigers (9-6-4) came from behind to take the GSC title 3-2. The loss, while it punches the ticket of the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament, likely does not affect the Trojans' fate in the 40-team field. Trevecca entered play on Saturday as the third ranked team in Super Region 2, with 10 spots in the tournament available to teams in the Super Region.
Trevecca had three players represented on the All-Tournament Team.
Chris Douglas,
Jack Franklin, and
Manuel Alonso were named to the 11-member team. Douglas had four goals in the tournament, and Franklin scored twice as well. Douglas played every second for the Trojans in the tournament, Franklin played 253 of 275 minutes, and Alonso played 241 minutes as well.
THE SERIES
West Alabama now holds a 2-1-1 lead in the series, as the Tigers avenged their earlier defeat at Trevecca on October 30.
THE MATCH
The Trojans wasted little time in getting on the board.
Jack Franklin sent a pass into the box that found the waiting feet of
Chris Douglas who tapped the goal in for his 20th of the season. He becomes only the third Trevecca player to net 20 goals in a single campaign, joining
Mark Foster (20, 2005) and Mauricio Dos Santos (28, 2003) at that threshold.
Franklin fired home a right-to-left diagonal shot after stealing the ball in the box from the UWA defense in the 30th minute to give the Trojans the 2-0 lead. Trevecca out-shot West Alabama 9-1 in the opening 45 minutes, and the Trojans had the only corner kick opportunity as well.
Early in the second half, though, the Tigers began to awaken. David Nunez got the Tigers on the board in the 50th minute with 19th goal of the season for UWA, and the Tigers kept applying pressure. Kevin Garcia knotted the score 17 minutes later, and with just less than 15 minutes to play, Trevecca was whistled for a foul in their own penalty area, which gave the Tigers a Penalty Kick opportunity to take the lead. Nunez finished it for his 20th tally to tie Douglas for the NCAA lead in goals scored in Division II.
Trevecca tried to push forward in the final moments, but the Trojans were unable to generate many chances, and UWA took the title with a 3-2 win.
The loss snapped a 10 match winning streak for the Trojans.
GOALKEEPERS:
Trevecca -
Hunter Walker (L; 14-2-2) - 90:00 Played, 3 GA, 6 SV
West Alabama - Dan Erez (W; 9-6-4) - 90:00 Played, 2 GA, 3 SV
SCORING:
6:13 - TNU:
Chris Douglas (20,
Jack Franklin)
29:52 - TNU:
Jack Franklin (4, Unassisted)
49:09 - UWA: David Nunez (19, Jesper Bakli)
66:56 - UWA: Kevin Garcia (1, Unassisted)
75:35 - UWA: David Nunez (20, Penalty Kick)
UP NEXT
The story now will continue in the NCAA Tournament, with the bracket to be revealed on a live stream on
NCAA.com on Monday, November 9, 2026 at 5:30 PM Central Time. The Trojans have punched their ticket into the 40-team field for the first time in program history. They are the fifth Trevecca team to earn a berth into the NCAA tournament all-time along with volleyball (2015), softball ('15, '16, '21, and '24), baseball ('21, '24, and '26) and women's basketball ('23 and '24) squads.
