Regular season soccer is finished in the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Northfield has proved to be the city to be in. Carleton won the MIAC women's regular season title while cross town rivals St. Olaf won the men's regular season title. Now both of those teams have earned a bye into the MIAC Semi-Finals later this week as the Knights and Oles aim for playoff titles and a berth into the NCAA Division III Soccer Tournament.
Women's First Round Matches:
#3 St. Olaf vs #6 Bethel - 2pm
Hosting one of the two first round matches is St. Olaf who finished the season with a 13-4-2 (8-1-2, MIAC) record this season. They'll be playing host to Bethel who had a rough campaign going 6-2-8 (W-D-L) overall and 5-2-4 in MIAC play. The Oles and Royals met relatively recently back on 24 October with St. Olaf emerging with a 2–1 win in Arden Hills in their only regular season meeting.
#4 Saint Benedict vs #5 Macalester - 2pm
It has been a while since the Bennies and Scots were on the same pitch, with their only meeting so far this season coming on 3 October. That outing in St. Joseph saw Saint Benedict shut out Macalester 2–0. Saint Ben's are the heavy favourites with a 12-3-1 overall this season and a 7-3-1 record in MIAC play. The Scots on the other hand went just 6-0-5 in the conference and 8-0-9 overall, just squeaking into fifth place by one point over Bethel.
Region IX Rankings
Women's Rankings
#1 Carleton - ranked #20 Nationally
#2 UW-La Crosse - #24 Nationally
#3 Loras (IA)
#4 St. Kate's
#5 Saint Benedict
#6 St. Olaf
#7 UW-Whitewater
#8 Central (IA)
Men's Rankings
#1 St. Olaf - #2 nationally
#2 Saint John's - #24 nationally
#3 Gustavus Adolphus - up from #4
#4 Luther (IA) - down from #3
#5 UW-Platteville
#6 UW-Superior
#7 Wartburg (IA)
#8 UW-Eau Claire
Men's First Round Matches:
#3 Saint John's vs #6 Augsburg - 2pm
A late season surge from Gustavus dropped the Johnnies down to third place in the regular season standings and meant the #24 ranked team in the country will not have a first round bye. Saint John's had a dominating season going 15-2-2 (7-1-2, MIAC) with an overall record only bested by the regular season champion St. Olaf. Augsburg on the other hand earned their spot in the playoffs by just two points over St. Scholastica. The Auggies 4-3-3 MIAC record is where most of their wins come from as the Minneapolis school has an overall record of just 5-7-4 this season. Saint John's and the Auggies drew nil-nil in their only regular season meeting at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.
#4 Carleton vs #5 Macalester - 2pm
Carleton's men's and women's sides have chances to win the MIAC tournament as the Knights men made the field as the four seed. A 10-1-6 (6-0-4) record for the Knights was more than good enough to get into the field, but nowhere near good enough to challenge the top three in the MIAC. Macalester has a similar conference season, going 5-1-4 in MIAC play, but struggled outside the conference, finishing just 7-4-5 on the season. Carleton and Macalester met just a few weeks ago on 21 October, with the Knights taking the regular season fixture 3–1 at home.
