St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team will face the University of St. Thomas in the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. on the Gustie Soccer Field. Co-MIAC Champion Gustavus is the No. 2 seed while St. Thomas earned the No. 3 seed.
Gustavus finished the 2012 regular season with an overall record of 14-2-1 and an MIAC mark of 8-1-1. With a 1-0 victory over Macalester on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, the Gusties earned a share of the conference title, their first since 2007, along with Carleton. The Knights completed the regular season 16-1-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the MIAC. Because Carleton defeated Gustavus 3-0 on Sept. 29 in St. Peter, the Knight’s earned the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs.
The Gusties are making their second consecutive appearance in the MIAC post-season tournament under the direction of Mike Middleton. Middleton’s club was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by Carleton last season by the score of 1-0.
Gustavus defeated St. Thomas in the regular season 1-0 in double overtime on Oct. 20 in St. Peter. Sophomore forward Zach Brown (Eau Claire, Wis.) was the hero in that match with the unassisted game-winning goal in the 105th minute.
Since the MIAC instituted the post-season playoff system in 2003, Gustavus has now qualified for the tournament a total of eight times. In their previous seven showings, the Gusties have compiled a record of 8-3 with playoff titles coming in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Tuesday’s match will be the second post-season meeting between Gustavus and St. Thomas. The Black and Gold defeated the Tommies 2-1 in 2007 thanks to a goal by Mike Butterworth in the 88th minute of the match.
As the top seed, Carleton will enjoy home field advantage, and will host the fourth-seeded Johnnies Tuesday in Northfield. The two winners will meet in Saturday’s (Nov. 3) championship game on the home field of the top remaining seed. Time for that game is also still TBD. The postseason winner will receive the MIAC’s automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Playoffs. Visit the 2012 MIAC Men’s Soccer Playoffs page for complete details regarding the postseason tournament.
Live video and live stats for the Gustavus vs. St. Thomas match will be provided by the Gustavus sports information department.