Wisconsin Soccer Central

Viterbo University is changing conferences, leaving the Midwest Collegiate Conference after 27 years to join the North Star Athletic Association effective this fall.

The V-Hawks will join eight schools from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa in the NAIA conference, which was formed in 2013.

However, only five league members field men's and women's soccer teams: Viterbo, Waldorf (Iowa), Bellevue (Neb.), Jamestown (N.D.) and Presentation (S.D.). The league hopes to find an independent school to join the NSSA for its postseason tournament, which would allow the conference champion to earn an automatic berth in the NAIA national tournament, V-Hawks women's coach Scott Pirnstill wrote in an email.

Viterbo was a charter member of the MCC when it started in 1988 as the Midwest Catholic Conference. However, the league is breaking up: Iowa schools Grand View and William Penn are joining the Heart of America Athletic Conference next fall, and AIB College of Business (Iowa) announced earlier this year that it will end its athletic programs because it is becoming part of the University of Iowa.

On the men's side, the V-Hawks won three MCC regular-season titles (1997 to '99) and three MCC tournament championships (1998 to 2000). The La Crosse school claimed women's league titles in 2005, '06 and '12 doubling up by adding MCC tournament titles in 2005 and '12.

• The Horizon League men's and women's soccer competitions will grow for the second straight year, as Northern Kentucky was confirmed as the league's newest member Monday. The Norse have played in the Atlantic Sun Conference since 2012 – their men's soccer team finished 6-10-4 overall last fall, while their women's side went 9-8-3. With the addition, both Horizon soccer leagues will include 10 teams.
• Goalkeeper Tyler Moore (Brookfield Central), a first-team all-state selection by the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association as a senior in 2013, is transferring from Drake to UNC Asheville. Moore is making the move for academic reasons – he's switching his major to Meteorology, which isn't offered at Drake. He took a redshirt as a freshman last fall and will have four seasons of eligibility at UNC Asheville.