ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After playing a loaded schedule to start the 2018 season and suffering a few losses early in the season, the College of Saint Benedict soccer team found its groove when it hit conference play. Thanks to some big games against the league's top teams and four straight wins to end the regular season, CSB earned the fifth seed in the MIAC Postseason Tournament, and travels to St. Kate's Tuesday, Oct. 30, for a quarterfinal matchup.
 
The game against the fourth-seeded Wildcats starts at 2 p.m. Tuesday in St. Paul. Third-seeded Augsburg hosts No. 6 St. Olaf in the other quarterfinal, and top-seeded St. Thomas and No. 2 Bethel await Tuesday's winners in Wednesday's semifinals.
 
Tuesday marks the second straight year that Saint Benedict and the Wildcats have faced off to start postseason play. The seeds were reversed last season, and No. 4 CSB hosted No. 5 St. Kate's. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie in double overtime, but the Wildcats advanced to the semifinals after winning in a shootout. St. Kate's went on to win the MIAC Tournament and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where it lost in the first round in Chicago.
 
CSB looked to exact revenge on the Wildcats during the 2018 regular season, but St. Kate's had other ideas. The Wildcats won 2-1 on Oct. 9 in a cold, rainy game in St. Joseph. Two of St. Kate's four goals came on corner kicks, and one came on a free kick following a CSB penalty just outside the box. Abby Welsch scored CSB's lone goal on a penalty kick midway through the first half to put her team up 1-0. Kendall Koenen had a solid game in net with 10 saves, including several diving saves. The Wildcats outshot CSB 25-8, including 14-4 on net during the regular season.
 
Both Saint Benedict and St. Kate's head into Tuesday's game looking to extend four-game winning streaks. CSB's last loss was to St. Kate's, and the team is 6-1-1 in its last eight games, including a tie with Bethel. The Wildcats' last loss came to nationally ranked St. Thomas, and SCU is 7-1-1 in its last nine games.
 
Megan Thompson leads CSB and is eighth in the MIAC with nine goals. She is also eighth in the league with 23 total points. Lauren Witte is tied with Thompson with nine goals, and is 10^th in the league with 19 total points. In net, Kendall Koenen is sixth in the MIAC with 74 saves, and St. Kate's Tayler Koop is ninth with 56 saves. Koop has a 1.02 goals-against average while Koenen has a 1.51 GAA.
 
Heading into the MIAC tournament, St. Kate's is 10-3-2 overall, with a 7-0-1 mark on its home field. CSB is 8-6-1 overall, and is 4-2 on the road. CSB heads into Tuesday's game looking for its first win in a MIAC tournament game since 2013 when it went 2-0 and won the league's postseason championship.