Winners of two straight and currently riding a 10-match unbeaten streak, no. 12 Ottawa is set to host Bethany College on Sunday in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. Prior to the match, the Braves will recognize 13 senior student-athletes who are completing their careers in Black and Gold.

The Matchup

Although the series has been reasonably matched throughout history, with Ottawa holding a 22-20-3 edge through 45 meetings, Ottawa has dominated the recent meetings, winning five straight and nine of the last 11. The past two years have been explosive, with Ottawa winning 10-0 in 2024 and 12-0 in 2025.

Last Time Out

Ottawa struck on either side of halftime to extend its unbeaten streak to 10 with a 2-0 win at Kansas Wesleyan. Mateo Trigo struck first for the Braves in the 24th minute, while Cale Scott tallied his league-leading 15th goal of the season with a penalty kick in the 73rd minute. Alex Neri recorded four saves on the afternoon to pick up his fifth shutout of the season.

About Bethany College

Bethany has struggled this season, bringing just a 3-10 (0-8 KCAC) record into Sunday's contest. Antonio Lopez (7 g) and Richard Livingston (6 g, 5 a) lead the meager offense for the Swedes, accounting for nearly half of the total for Bethany. Kisasi Brooks and Brandon Gomez Gutierrez have each added a trio of goals on the year as well.

Nikoloz Chitaia has been the only goalkeeper to see any action for Bethany this year, allowing 61 goals for a 4.69 goals-against average over 1170:00. Despite his inflated GAA, he has recorded a pair of shutouts on the season, both coming against NCCAA foe Manhattan Christian College.

Title Chase Shaping Up

Although Oklahoma Wesleyan currently sits atop the KCAC standings with 23 points, Ottawa is in the driver's seat to earn the program's first KCAC regular-season title. Despite trailing the Eagles at 22 points, the Braves hold two games in hand as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker following the 3-0 upset earlier this season. Joining OU and OKWU in the title chase are Friends (21 pts) and York (19 pts), with the Falcons and Panthers also holding two games in hand over Oklahoma Wesleyan.

Ottawa's final five contests will certainly put the Braves to the test, as they will hit the road to take on both Friends (Oct. 28) and York (Oct. 24), but will have Sunday's match against Bethany and a home contest against struggling Southwestern to let the table shake out a bit.

In The Polls

Following an outstanding finish to the 2025 season, Ottawa debuted at no. 16 in the NAIA Men's Soccer Preseason Top 25 for 2026. The Braves were one of two KCAC squads in the top 25, joining no. 9-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan. Despite a 1-0 upset over no. 3 MidAmerica Nazarene, Ottawa slid two spots in the first regular-season edition of the poll, landing tied for 18th. The Braves were joined in the no. 18 spot by free-falling LSU-Shreveport, which dropped 6 spots despite a 2-1 record then followed it up with a 4-4 draw against Oklahoma Wesleyan. Back-to-back wins returned Ottawa to the no. 16 spot in the final version of the poll taken from voting by the coaches, before a monstrous upset of then no. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan helped the Braves (no. 9) leapfrog the Eagles (no. 12) in the first edition of the poll produced by the National Selection Committee. 

2026 STADIONIC NAIA Men's Soccer Poll
Preseason - No. 16 (Coaches - Aug. 19)
Week 1 - No. 18-tie (Coaches - Sept. 2)
Week 2 - No. 16 (Coaches - Sept. 16)
Week 3 - No. 9 (NSC - Oct. 1)
Week 4 - No. 12 (NSC - Oct. 14)

NAIA Players of the Week

For the first time since 2022, Ottawa saw a familiar name among the cascade of Tuesday emails from the national office, as Alex Neri was recognized as the NAIA Defensive Player of the Week for week 1. Neri was rock solid for the Black and Gold in Ottawa's 1-0 upset over no. 3 MidAmerica Nazarene, securing five saves including a game-changer in the 89th minute.

And in unsurprising news following the duo's outstanding performances, Neri was joined by Cale Scott in a first-ever for Ottawa, as the duo swept the national honors for Week 5. 

Scott was simply dominant in both contests on the week, scoring three goals and adding three assists. His first goal of the week proved to be the gamewinner - his fourth of the year - for Ottawa against Oklahoma Wesleyan, a 20th-minute penalty kick sent top shelf. He added a pair of assists in the second half as well for Ottawa to close out the win. Against Tabor, he again opened the scoring for the Braves before assisting Slobodan Novicevic on the gamewinner, adding a second-half goal, again from the penalty spot. The redshirt junior sits just three goals shy of his career best with 10 on the season, and he also sits atop the scoring sheet alongside Simon Kindt and Antonio Natalucci for Ottawa with four assists.

For Neri, his second nod of the season comes as he recorded four saves and demonstrated outstanding control in the defensive third against the Eagles, extending his shutout streak to 366:16 against Tabor before a fluke goal against the run of play. He immediately reestablished his shutout string, recording a pair of saves over the next 52:21 before yielding to Luca Fofonka for the final 17:40 of the contest. On the season, he has posted a 7-0 1 record with a goals-against average of 0.82 spread across 657:20. The graduate student also boasts four shutouts on the season with a save percentage of .778.

2026 NAIA Players of the Week
Week 1 - Alex Neri (Defensive)
Week 5 - Alex Neri (Defensive)
Week 5 - Cale Scott (Offensive)

KCAC Players of the Week

As predicted in last week's preview, Cale Scott made Ottawa history by claiming his third consecutive KCAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week nod, helping the Braves to a 3-0 upset of no. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan and a 5-1 win at Tabor College.

Also, for the first time since 2020, Ottawa swept the league honors, as Scott was joined by Alex Neri in claiming the top spot on the ballots. The previous sweep also involved the Scott family, as elder brother (and current assistant coach) Cain Scott was joined by Gage Powers in earning offensive and defensive honors, respectively.

2026 KCAC Players of the Week
Week 1 - Alex Neri (Defensive)
Week 3 - Cale Scott (Offensive)
Week 4 - Cale Scott (Offensive)
Week 5 - Alex Neri (Defensive)
Week 5 - Cale Scott (Offensive)

Send It Like Scott

Through the early part of the season, Ottawa has found solid offensive production throughout the front line, averaging better than two goals per game. And although much of the production has been through the run of play, Cale Scott has proven to be exceptionally dangerous on the free kick.

Twice this season, the redshirt freshman has drawn game-winning blood from free kicks in dangerous positions. Against then no. 3 MidAmerica Nazarene, Ottawa earned a free kick 20 yards from goal on the left corner of the 18-yard box. Scott delivered an inch-perfect curling ball inside the far post and out of the reach of MNU's goalkeeper.

Then against (RV) Baker, the Black-and-Gold earned a free kick on the right side of the 18-yard box, just inside 25 yards out. Scott was again inch-perfect, this time dialing top corner up and around a five-man wall for the Wildcats.

On The Leaderboard

As Ottawa has settled into a solid run of form this year, a number of players have found their way to the top of the national leaderboards. Biggest among the leaders is Cale Scott, currently tied for fifth with 15 goals on the year. Antonio Natalucci is in a 10-man deadlock for seventh nationally with eight assists on the season. Scott's four gamewinners put him in the middle of a big deadlock in fourth nationally, while his four penalty kick makes are third-best in the association.

Defensively, Alex Neri's goals-against average of 0.78 is good for 21st nationwide, although a number of players ahead of him in the standings have played in fewer than half the team's matches on the season. He is also in a group of 12 keepers holding down the no. 8 spot in the top 10 with five clean sheets on the season.

Welcome (Back) Home

After playing the past several seasons at AdventHealth Field, Ottawa returns to the Dick Peters Sports Complex for the 2026 season.

"We are excited to be returning home to Dick Peters Sports Complex," said head coach James Cottage. "Playing on a soccer specific field, a field that is longer and wider, it will really match what we're trying to achieve. We want to play with fast wingers that can get into one on one opportunities, but this field will help defenders as well."

In addition to the benefits for the team, the fan experience is also expected to be improved with the move to Peters.

"With the move, fans can be closer to the field and really get up close and be that extra bit of support for our team," added Cottage. "I want to make it feel like a home, a place where teams look at it and go 'Oh, we've got to go to Ottawa. We have to play on that big field and it's going to be a mess.' That's what we're looking for."