Co-champs St. Olaf, Carleton win to advance to Men's Soccer title game

http://miac-online.org/news/2011/11/2/MSOC_1102111409.aspx

NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- After sharing the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) men's soccer regular-season championship, cross-town rivals St. Olaf and Carleton will meet in a fitting rematch Saturday with the 2011 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoff championship on the line.

Both teams won thrilling semifinal games Wednesday to advance in the tournament. The top-seeded Oles got a late goal to score a 2-1 win over No. 4 Augsburg, the defending MIAC Playoff champion, and No. 2 Carleton made an early goal stand up in a 1-0 win over third-seeded Gustavus. Both games were played in Northfield, which will also be the site of Saturday's championship. Thanks to its regular-season win over the Knights last Saturday, St. Olaf will host the postseason final.

Ryan Johnsrud scored the game-winning goal with less than six minutes left to give the Oles a narrow, hard-fought win over the Auggies. Both teams scored within the first 23 minutes of the game, then the scoring dried up until Johnsrud's heroic goal at the 84:31 mark. Will Totemeh assisted on the game-winner and St. Olaf earned the right to host Saturday’s title game with the win.

The Oles were the first team on the board when Blake Dressen scored his ninth goal of the year on an assist from David Rosenthal just 10:29 into the game. However, it didn't take long for the Auggies to answer. 2010 MIAC Player-of-the-Year Chad Gilmer scored to tie the game at 1-1 at the 22:28 mark on an assist from Mathias Macody Lund. Neither team managed a goal in a tight defensive game the rest of the way, until Johnsrud finally broke the tie.

Harry Ullmann made one save and allowed the lone Augsburg goal to earn the win in net for St. Olaf. Augsburg goalie Will Morlock made two saves and allowed two goals in the loss. The Oles improved to 15-3-1 this season, while Augsburg fell to 10-5-3.

The other semifinal featured just one goal, but Carleton made it stand up with great defense, even as Gustavus applied a great deal of pressure throughout the second half. Just 14:17 into the game Nathan Park passed to Will Corcoran, who dribbled up and made a great crossing pass that Tim Wills headed into the net for the lone goal. Wills' ninth goal of the seasons added to his outstanding numbers as Carleton's all-time leading scorer, and both Park and Corcoran were credited with assists on the game-winner.

Knights' goalie James Neher made four saves to earn the victory and the shutout, while Gustie goalie Brett Ylonen made two saves and allowed the lone goal in the loss. Carleton improved its overall record to 12-5-2 with the win, while Gustavus suffered just its second loss of the season at 14-2-3.

Saturday's championship game has been set for 1 p.m. and live broadcast and stat links are available below. The winner not only adds the MIAC Playoff title to its outstanding 2011 season, but it also receives the MIAC's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Playoffs.

2011 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs
Semifinals: Wednesday, Nov. 2
No. 1 St. Olaf 2, No. 4 Augsburg 1 | Box Score |
No. 2 Carleton 1, No. 3 Gustavus 0 | Box Score |

Championship: Saturday, Nov. 5
No. 2 Carleton vs. No. 1 St. Olaf – 1 p.m. – Northfield, Minn. (STO) | Live Web cast/stats |

Courtesy of MIAC