SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team hosts Saint Mary’s Saturday at 1 p.m. for its first home MIAC match of the 2019 season. The Gusties enter the contest 5-1 and 1-0 in the MIAC while Saint Mary’s is 3-2 overall and has not yet played a conference contest.
The Series: Saturday’s contest marks the 53rd all-time meeting between the two teams with the Gusties holding a 39-3-10 advantage. The two teams last met on Oct. 15, 2018 in Saint Peter with Gustavus taking a 4-1 victory. The Gusties got goals from Arthur Parens, Joe Brandel (Sr., St. Louis Park), and Nolan Garvin (Jr., Batavia, Ill.) in the first half to get out to a 3-1 lead going into halftime and a Matt Gibbons (Jr., Minneapolis) free kick early in the second half pushed the score to the 4-1 final.
Scouting the Gusties: Gustavus enters the contest following a 2-1 win over St. Thomas Wednesday. Through six contests, the trio of Cole Schwartz (So., Jakarta, Indonesia), Raphael Cattelin (Fy., Edina) (5g, 9a), and Gibbons (5g, 8a) lead the attack with 20, 19, and 18 points, respectively. The three point totals rank first, second, and third in the conference. Wesley Sanders (Fy., Urbandale, Iowa) has started all six games in net, totaling 17 saves and allowing six goals.
Scouting the Cardinals: Saint Mary’s enters the contest most recently defeating North Central (Minn.) 9-0 Thursday. Through five games this year Josh Balsiger has been the team’s biggest threat with four goals and three assists for 11 points while Jacob Clements has contributed three goals. Michael Maniak has started four of the team’s games in net, snagging four saves while allowing five goals.