Brad Williams battles for possession. (Photo: Alex Sellner, Gustavus Sports Information)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team had its season come to an end with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff semifinal loss versus Macalester College, falling 1-0 on a frigid Wednesday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.
After earning a first round bye and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs with a 2-0 win over the Scots last Saturday, Macalester came back to defeat Gustavus and earn a second consecutive trip to the MIAC Playoff Final.
“A really good performance from the players today, they were top-class,” said Head Coach Mike Middleton. “I’m not sure there was a lot more we could have done. We dominated the game for large swathes, and even though I may be biased I thought we looked the much better team.”
A first half score by Seth Kofman at the 29th minute was all the scoring Macalester needed as the Gustie offense was only able to muster one shot on goal.
“We dominated the first half, with their goal coming against the run of play,” Middleton said. “The ball was laid back to the our goalkeeper by one of defenders in order to keep possession, the ball was played up-field but went to one of their players, and a early ball was played through and our defender slipped. It was just one of those things.”
Goalkeeper Matt Bateman (Jr., Savage, Minn.) kept Gustavus in the game, tallying six saves, including a tremendous save to deny the Scots from taking a two-goal lead off a penalty kick opportunity.
After the Scots outshout the Gusties 9-3 in the first half, the home team came out with some push back to start the second half, generating three consecutive corner kicks. However, they couldn’t find a way to break through the Macalester defense.
“Macalaster have proved to be a team that is very tough to break down. 1-0 down at half-time I was certain that we would get back into the game. However, they did a good job breaking up the play, and managed held on right to the end,” Middleton commented.
Brad Williams (Sr., Andover, Minn.) and Matt Gibbons (Fy., Minneapolis, Minn.) led the offense effort, recording two shots each.
The Black and Gold conclude their season with a 13-6 overall record.