Skip to: The Week in Review | What 2 Watch 4 | Inside the Numbers | Did You Know?
The Week in Review…
The Difference Maker - Carson Gorecki (Sr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) lifted the Macalester men’s soccer team to a 1-0 win last Wednesday over visiting Augsburg with his 24th career goal with just 1:48 remaining in the second half. This was the fourth time over the team’s last five matches the red-hot Gorecki has netted a second half, tie-breaking, game-winning goal. Macalester is off to a 2-0 MIAC start, but its next four games are conference road tilts. The Scots don’t play at home again until Oct. 17.
Tennis Anyone? - Top-seeded Kathryn Schmidt of Carleton won the singles title and the duo of Samantha Frank and Sierra Krebsbach of Gustavus won the doubles title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)/Wilson Women’s Midwest Regional which was played at Gustavus this past weekend. The Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional at Gustavus featured the top small college tennis players from 19 schools in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. As champions of the Midwest Regional, Schmidt, Frank and Krebsbach now advance to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships which will take place Oct. 15-18 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. This is the eighth time in the last 10 years that Gustavus has hosted the ITA/Wilson Midwest Regional Tournament.
You Can’t Run From Mr. Hyde - On an afternoon with several defensive highlights, the most spectacular play of Carleton’s 38-0 gridiron victory at Macalester came from first-year Caleb Hyde, who forever solidified his name in the Carleton record books early in the fourth quarter. He preserved the Knights' shutout in dramatic fashion as the rookie stripped the ball from Scot running back Jake McDonnell at the goal line and returned the fumble recovery 99 yards for a touchdown. (The NCAA Statistical Service is unable to determine where this fumble return ranks all-time in D-III history.) It was the longest Carleton return of a turnover over the last 20 years, besting Tim Thull's 72-yard scamper of a fumble against St. Olaf in 1990 and Drew Ziller's 86-yard interception return versus Minnesota-Morris in 2007.
Women’s CC at the Griak – Reigning NCAA Champion Marie Borner of Bethel won the individual title to lead a host of MIAC runners at Saturday’s challenging Roy Griak Invitational held in St. Paul at the Univ. of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course. Borner clocked a time of 21:37 over the six-kilometer course to finish first after placing second the last two years at the meet. Carleton’s Simone Childs-Walker (3rd, 22:15) and Laura Roach (9th, 23:02) paced the Knights while Alex Potter of Bethel finished 10th with a time of 23:05. As a team, Bethel placed fourth with 136 points, Carleton was sixth with 174 points, and St. Thomas was seventh with 176.
Men’s CC at the Griak – MIAC Men’s Cross Country teams and individuals fared well at last Saturday’s prestigious Roy Griak Invitational held at the Les Bolstad Golf Course on the Univ. of Minnesota’s St. Paul Campus. Bethel senior Dan Greeno placed second in a time of 25:40. Greeno was the top MIAC finisher and was named MIAC Athlete of the Week on Monday. St. Olaf’s Dobuol Ruon (5th, 25:48), Augsburg’s Brent Haglund (8th, 25:55) and Hamline’s Ian Bauer (10th, 26:10) were other top ten finishers from the MIAC. St. Olaf was the top team from the MIAC placing seventh with 281 points. Hamline was also in the top ten, finishing eighth with 317 points.
A Royal Win - The Bethel men's soccer team defeated St. Thomas for the first time since 1999 when Brandon Peplinski (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) scored with less than two minutes remaining. At the midway point of the regular season, Bethel is now 6-2-1, which matches their record at the same point in 2004, the last time the Royals earned a berth in the conference playoffs.
Fore! - The Gustavus women’s golf team has been playing very good this fall winning the UW-Eau Claire Invitational and the Division III Midwest Classic, finishing second at the Southwest State Invitational, and fourth at the O’Brien National Invitational. Senior Kali Griggs (Burnsville, Minn.) leads the squad with a 78.9 stroke average, followed by junior Katie Schenfeld (Indianola, Iowa) at 79.6, sophomore Annie Jackson (Fargo, N.D.) at 81.5, and sophomore Taylor Drenttel (Eagan, Minn.) at 82.1.
Coming on Strong - The Concordia-Moorhead men’s golf team is coming off their best finish of the season as they placed second at the St. Olaf Invitational last weekend. The Cobbers were only three shots behind team champion Bemidji State and beat the other six MIAC schools at the meet. It marked the second straight meet that Concordia has finished as one of the top two conference schools at a multi-MIAC invitational.
Going Deep - Antonio Jennings' 90-yard TD catch with 4:28 remaining helped give the St. Olaf football team to a 24-14 win over Augsburg on Saturday. Jennings had two other key receptions to the Auggies one-yard line that set up the other two St. Olaf touchdowns. His five-reception, 162-yard effort was a career-best and the Oles' second 100-yard receiving effort since 2007.
90 minutes isn’t enough - Sunday’s 3-2 overtime win over Lakeland was the second OT contest of the week — and the season — for the Saint Mary’s men’s soccer team. The Cardinals are now 3-0-3 in their last six overtime games and have not lost an OT game since a 3-2 setback vs. Macalester on Sept. 22, 2006.
What 2 Watch 4…
MIAC Golf Championships – The 2009 Men’s and Women’s Championships will take place this Saturday-Monday, October 3-5, at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids, Minn. The 54-hole event will feature ten men’s and ten women’s teams competing for the MIAC team title, individual medalist honors, and an automatic qualification into this spring’s NCAA Championships for the team champions. Saint John’s, ranked sixth nationally, enters the men’s championship having won four of the last five team titles. On the women’s side, Gustavus broke St. Thomas’ seven year title streak last year and the Gusties, ranked #3 in the nation, will enter the weekend as the favorite once again.
The Border Battle – Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa) and St. Olaf will both play host to the upcoming MIAC/IIAC Volleyball Border Battle, set for Friday October 2 and Saturday, October 3. St. Thomas, Gustavus, Saint Benedict and Concordia Moorhead will travel to Loras as the top four MIAC teams from 2008 will play the top four from the IIAC. While St. Olaf will host teams five through eight from the MIAC (St. Olaf, Carleton, Saint Mary’s, and Augsburg) and 5-8 from the IIAC in Northfield. Each team plays two games on Friday and two on Saturday. The MIAC teams look to continue the recent domination in the event as the MIAC holds a 101-43 (.701) edge over the IIAC since the event started in 2004.
Homecoming Showdown – No. 6 Saint John’s (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) hosts Bethel (3-1, 2-0 MIAC) in a pivotal MIAC game this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Collegeville. It’s Homecoming for the Johnnies and Saint John’s is 63-16-2 all-time on Homecoming Day. But Bethel has won the last three contests between these two teams. One of these teams has won the MIAC title the last four seasons and Saturday’s matchup will go a long way in determining the league champ in 2009.
Road Test – The Macalester men’s soccer team (2-0 MIAC, 5-4-1) will have their perfect 2-0 conference record tested this week as they travel to defending conference champion Carleton (3-1 MIAC, 5-3) on Wednesday and a hot Bethel team (2-0-1 MIAC, 6-2-1) on Friday. Both matchups could help sort out a cluttered MIAC Men’s Soccer Standings. It won’t get much easier for the Scots as they will face Gustavus and Saint Mary’s in two more tough conference away matches next week.
Undefeateds Meet - Augsburg volleyball is off to a 3-0 start in conference play (10-6 overall), its best start to conference play in the last two decades. This Wednesday, Augsburg travels to Saint Benedict (2-0, 12-4) for a tough conference match-up as the Blazers are ranked 19th in the recent AVCA National poll. The winner of this contest will stay on track to try and knock No. 6 St. Thomas off the top of the MIAC Standings.
Playoff Implications – Carleton will travel to Saint Benedict for a key women’s soccer matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. Three points from a win will go a long way in helping secure a MIAC playoff berth for one of these teams. Both teams enter tomorrow’s contests with 2-1 conference records. But both we will face stiff competition (Saint Benedict at defending MIAC champ St. Thomas and Carleton at Macalester) prior to Saturday.
Men’s Turn to Shine - Gustavus is hosting the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Men's Tennis Championship at the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center and the Brown Outdoor Courts this Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4. The Wilson/ITA Men's Division III Regional at Gustavus will feature 130 of the top small college players in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The singles and doubles champions from this weekend's tournament advance to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships which will be held Oct. 15-18 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.
Blugold Invite – Several MIAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams will be competing at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite in Colfax, Wis. this Friday, October 2nd. On the men’s side, Macalester, Bethel, St. Olaf (5th), Saint John’s (2nd), Hamline (6th), St. Thomas (4th), and Saint Mary’s will be competing. Regional rankings in parentheses. On the women’s side, Bethel (1st), St. Olaf (8th), Saint Benedict (10th), and Macalester will compete. The women’s race begins at 4 p.m. followed by the men’s race which begins at 4:45 p.m.
Auggie Hall of Fame - Augsburg will induct nine alumni into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday night as part of its Homecoming week activities. This will be the 37th class of inductees into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame, which now consists of 250 members and one team. Inducted this year: Bob Arvold '82 (wrestling), Joel Engel '87 (men's basketball), Matt Farley '88 (baseball), Stefanie Lodermeier Strusz '98 (women's basketball), Dallas Miller '88 (men's hockey), Ruth Olson '60 (women's basketball), Drew Privette '89 (football, men's hockey), Daniel Roff '82 (football) and Sonja Slack Payne '91 (softball, tennis).
Inside the Numbers…
3 – The number of different Royals that passed for touchdowns in Bethel football’s 29-10 win over Concordia on Saturday. The last time Bethel did that was November 4, 2006, against Augsburg in a 48-21 win at home. 3 is also the number of passes that Bethel intercepted in the Concordia game, making it the third time in the last 12 games the Royals have accomplished the feat.
8 – Concordia women’s soccer is one of eight teams in Division III that are unbeaten or untied out of the 414 schools that make up NCAA Division III women’s soccer. Of those eight teams only three other teams have won at least eight games in the year. The Cobbers, who are now 9-0-0 on the season, are also ranked 18th in the last week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll which is the highest the team has ever been ranked in the national poll.
9 - The number of offensive touchdowns the Tommie football team scored in their win over Hamline last Saturday, which established a new school record. St. Thomas also tied its modern scoring record in Saturday's 63-10 victory over Hamline. 9 is also the number of extra points senior kicker Brady Beeson attempted and made in the contest, which ties a UST record.
16 – The MIAC regular-season unbeaten streak of the St. Thomas women’s soccer team (7-2 overall, 4-0 MIAC), after edging previously-unbeaten Bethel last weekend 2-1.
33 – The conference win streak of the St. Thomas volleyball team. The Tommies are currently ranked #6 in the nation with a record of 12-2 overall, 3-0 MIAC.
59 – The number of consecutive weeks the Concordia-Moorhead volleyball team has been ranked in the top 25 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. The streak is a conference record as the Cobbers currently sit at #17.
Did You Know?
Minnesota and Wisconsin playing for Paul Bunyan’s Axe at TCF Bank Stadium won’t be the only football trophy game in the state this Saturday. St. Olaf and Carleton will battle for the Goat Trophy, which was first awarded in 1931, as the cross-town rivals meet in Northfield. Also, Hamline will travel to Augsburg on Saturday to fight for ‘The Hammer’. In other trophy games last Saturday, Carleton topped Macalester to keep ‘The Book of Knowledge’ and St. Thomas beat Hamline to retain ‘The Wilson Brothers Cup’.