Lake Tahoe crowned Golden Valley Conference champion for 8th straight season

FRESNO, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Lake Tahoe Community College soccer team drew 1-1 at No. 8 Fresno City College in its regular season finale.

However, the well-earned road point wasn't the best news of the day.

LTCC (12-5-4), which had seemingly let the prospect of another Golden Valley Conference crown slip from its grasp in Tuesday's loss at Butte College, received a welcome message.

Nearly 400 miles away in Weed, Calif., College of the Siskiyous had battled to a 1-1 draw with first-place Butte. The tie moved Butte to 8-1-1 in GVC play, matching LTCC's 8-1-1 GVC record.

As a result, LTCC and Butte are co-champions of the GVC.

According to 3C2A guidelines, LTCC will be considered the conference champion for the NorCal Regional playoffs due to their advantage in aggregate goals in head-to-head matchups against Butte. The Coyotes beat Butte 3-1 on Oct. 14 and lost 4-3 on Nov. 7, so the Coyotes have the edge due to their 7-4 advantage in those two matches.

For head coach Jeremy Evans, it's the team's eighth straight GVC title and the first time it's been shared in program history.

On Tuesday, the Coyotes fell behind midway through the first half, a scoreline that held for nearly an hour of play. However, Maren Matuska slotted home a pass from Emily Brandt to tie the match in the 83rd minute. It was Matuska's first goal since Oct. 7, when she scored against LTCC's newest friend - College of the Siskiyous.

The assist marked Brandt's sixth point in her last two games.

LTCC will await its NorCal Regional seed following a season in which it played 11 games against opponents who have appeared in the United Soccer Coaches NJCAA DIII national rankings this season at one point or another. The Coyotes went 4-3-3 (.550) against those opponents.

LTCC was ranked in five of nine national polls this season, reaching as high as No. 4 on Sept. 2, 2025.