ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict soccer team ended its regular season with a loss to Carleton Saturday, but with some help around the league the team secured the No. 4 seed and the right to host a quarterfinal game in the 2017 MIAC Tournament. Tuesday's first-round match against No. 5 St. Catherine University starts at 2 p.m. at the turf field on College Avenue.
Per MIAC policy, admission will be charged and costs $7 for adults and $3 for students with a valid college ID. MIAC passes will be accepted, but CSB|SJU IDs will not. The first 100 CSB|SJU students to come through the gates get in free courtesy of CSB student senate and CSB athletics.
About the Wildcats
St. Kate's finished the regular season 7-6-3 overall and 5-2-1 in the MIAC, and heads into Tuesday's coming off a 4-2 win against Hamline. Madelyn Conners leads the team with five goals and 11 points, and Iryna Talkochova leads the team with four assists. Nine Wildcats have scored a goal this season. Jessica Perez-Adame and Tayler Koop have split time in goal and have combined for 79 saves and a 1.36 goals-against average.
Last Meeting
CSB beat the Wildcats 1-0 earlier this season on Oct. 10 in St. Paul. The two teams were tied at halftime, but
Sydney Bramer scored in the 47th minute off a toss from
Megan Thompson to help lift the team to the win. The Wildcats held a 16-15 edge in total shots, but Saint Benedict had a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Kendall Koenen finished with four saves in the shutout.
Who to Watch
First year
Megan Thompson leads CSB with six goals and 16 points on 45 shots. Junior
Jane Koch is first in the MIAC with six assists and fifth with 56 shots. In net,
Kendall Koenen has 46 total saves. She is 9-3-3 with six shutouts, a 0.93 goals against average, and a .823 save percentage. Sophomore
Mara Flaherty scored the team's lone goal Saturday against Carleton, and Koch and
Samantha Schorzman scored in a win over Hamline.
The Storyline
CSB – which wrapped up the regular season 9-3-3 overall and 5-3-3 and tied for fourth in the MIAC– hosts fifth-seeded St. Kate's at 2 p.m. Tuesday on the team's new turf field on College Avenue. The winner of that game travels to take on the top seed Augsburg on Wednesday, Nov. 1. This ends CSB's two-year hiatus from the conference tournament. Saint Benedict's last appearance came in 2014 when it tied St. Thomas 1-1, but the Tommies won 2-0 in a shootout.
Now that it's in the playoffs, CSB hopes its offense comes alive again. After scoring 11 goals in the first three games of the season, the team has scored just four goals in its last five games. The loss to Carleton was CSB's first loss since Sept. 23, and the team looks to start another winning streak in the MIAC Tournament.
On the other side of the bracket, third-seeded St. Olaf hosts sixth-seeded Gustavus at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Augsburg awaits the winner of the CSB/St. Kate's matchup, and St. Thomas hosts the Gustavus/Oles matchup Wednesday afternoon. The MIAC Championship match is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 4.
