The Gustavus men’s soccer team will host Macalester College on Saturday, November 6 in the MIAC tournament final. The match is scheduled to start at 1pm. Gustavus enters the match with an overall record of 16-1-2 and is currently ranked second in the West Region by the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Committe. The Gusties ended the regular season with a conference record of 8-1-1 and tied with St. Olaf College for the MIAC regular season title. Macalester enters the match with an overall record of 9-6-2. The Scots ended the regular season with a conference record of 6-3-1 and tied for third place in the MIAC with Bethel University.
Gustavus, the number one seed, hosted Bethel University, the number four seed, on Tuesday in a conference semifinal match. The Gusties defeated the Royals 1-0 with a goal from sophomore Alex Groth to advance to the conference tournament final. Macalester, the number three seed, traveled to Northfield, Minn. on Tuesday to face St. Olaf College, the number two seed, in the other semifinal match. The Scots defeated the Oles 2-0 with goals from sophomore Adric Mueller and senior Brendan Viele to advance to the conference tournament final.
Macalester hosted Gustavus on October 22 in MIAC regular season play. The game was played in challenging conditions with rain and strong winds throughout the entire match. The game was locked at 0-0 after 90 minutes of play and the game went to overtime. Gustavus was awarded a penalty kick two minutes into the second overtime when a Macalester defender was red carded for an intentional handball to deny the Gusties a goal. Senior Joe Hartwell stepped up and fired the ball into the back of the net to give Gustavus the win.
The Gusties and Scots met in last year’s tournament final in St. Paul, Minn. Gustavus defeated Macalester 2-1 to earn the automatic bid into the national tournament. The winner of Saturday’s match will be crowned the 2004 MIAC Tournament Champion and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament. Gustavus is in search of its second consecutive NCAA appearance and fifth in school history (1993, 1994, 2000, 2003), while Macalester is in search of its tenth NCAA appearance (1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002).