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MIAC Championship: After conquering the MIAC regular season crown the Saint Benedict soccer team will try to make it a title-sweep today in the MIAC Playoff Championship. The first-seed Blazers (15-2-1, 10-2 MIAC) host the second-seed Macalester Scots (13-4-1, 9-3 MIAC). The winner of today's game will be crowned MIAC Playoff Champions and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
 
About the Scots: After finishing fourth in the conference last year and missing the playoffs, the Scots are back in the MIAC Championship game for the first time since 2009 and first time ever under Head Coach Michele Cornish. The Scots tout the conference's second-best offense from the regular season with 2.2 goals scored per game (Blazers were first with a 2.4 GFA). They boast the conference's most stringent defense, ceding only 0.62 goals per game. They are led by senior forward and MIAC Player-of-the-Year candidate, Georgia Cleopfil who led the conference with 11 goals and seven assists in 11 conference games this year.
 
Regular Season: In early October the Scots came to Saint Ben's and handed the Blazers their first loss of the season. A few minutes before halftime the game was suspended because of lightning sightings across the St. Joe sky. Shortly after play resumed, Scot forward Bonnie Gale took a pass from Cleopfil and put the Scots up 1-0. The Blazers had several scoring opportunities later in the half, but weren't able to get a solid shot in as the rain continued to pour, and lost the game 1-0.
 
Storyline: This is the moment both teams dreamt about reaching when they set their goals at the beginning of the season. Now that both are here, which team will have the volition to close the door on the other team? The Scots bested the Blazers in the regular season, but the Blazers have made great strides since then and are currently riding a six-game winning streak. As sophomore forward Grace Vaughan (Shakopee, Minn.) sees it, "Our teams are similar in a lot of ways and each has many players that can play many positions on the field. They have a few key players that they run their offense through, so if we shut those girls down we should be able to give ourselves a good chance to win."
 
Who to Watch: Vaughan has been on a tear of late, scoring two key goals in the past two games, including the game-winner in the semifinals to punch the Blazer's ticket to the finals. She and senior forward Colleen Bouchard (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) led the team with nine goals apiece this season. Bouchard also leads the team with 32 points and 14 assists. With one assist today she will become the Blazer's all-time leader in career assists. First-year keeper Heather Kaluzniak has been solid and consistent in net all season. She led the conference with 0.887 save percentage and finished second with a 0.72 goals against average.

Grace Vaughan	Colleen Bouchard	Heather Kaluzniak

 
Semifinals:
MAC: The Scots hosted the third-seed St. Olaf Oles in their first round matchup. In what has become known as the Snowout Blowout, the Scots battled through a snow-covered field to defeat the Oles 5-0. The Scots got goals from five different players, including two goals scored off penalty kicks. Four of their five goals came in the last 20 minutes of the game.
CSB: The Blazers played the Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers for the second time in four days in the first round. After a scoreless first half, Bouchard gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the second minute of the second-half, fooling the Cobber keeper Liz Bitzan. In the 70th minute Cobber forward Gina Weiss snuck a header past Kaluzniak, evening the score at 1-1. Five minutes, though, later Vaughan swung the momentum back in the Blazers' favor, rolling the ball to the far post past Bitzan to win the game for the Blazers.