Northfield, Minn. - Carleton fell to Macalester 2-0 on Wednesday, which, coupled with St. Olaf's victory over Augsburg has created a de facto playoff match for Carleton on Saturday with the Oles. The win gave the Scots the outright regular season MIAC title and earned them the number one seed in the MIAC playoffs.
The Knights (8-7-0, 7-3-0 MIAC) played tough with the premier team in the MIAC, and the backline of Helga Midelfort-Vognar (So./St. Paul, Minn./Mounds Park Academy), Megan Molteni (Fy./Green Bay, Wis./Lincoln), Becca Dole (So./Boulder, Colo.), and Lisa Driscoll (Fy./Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy) did well to limit a constantly attacking Macalester (14-1-1, 10-0-1 MIAC) side to only two goals.
The Scots controlled the run of play throughout the match, and got their first goal off of a corner kick in the 35th minute. Katie Pastorious sent a perfect ball to the backpost where Annie Barton headed home from four yards out to give her team the 1-0 lead.
Pastorious extended the lead to 2-0 in the 67th minute, as she finished to Knights 'keeper Jenna Bernhardson's (Fy./Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) right from 15 yards out.
Macalester outshot the Knights 19-5, and held a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. Bernhardson made four saves in one half of play, and fellow first-year Emily Muirhead (Minneapolis/Southwest) contributed three.
The match was senior day for the Knights, and thus marked the final home collegiate match for seniors Caitlin Coomes (Hudson, Wisc./Mounds Park Academy) and Caroline Conrad (Duluth, Minn./Marshall).
The loss, coupled with Augsburg's loss, means that the Knights remain in a tie for third place with the Auggies at 14 points. Augsburg is finished with regular season MIAC play, and St. Olaf improved its point total to 12 points. St. Thomas's loss to Gustavus ended any hope that it had to make the playoffs, and made it a three way race for the last two playoff spots.
However, the race is not as complicated as it seems. There is only one more match with playoff implications, and it is the Carleton - St. Olaf match this Saturday, and the scenario for this game are as follows:
If the Knights win or tie, then they will have finished ahead of both Augsburg and St. Olaf in the MIAC table and will earn the third seed for the playoffs. Augsburg would likewise have a superior record to the Oles, and would earn the fourth seed.
If St. Olaf defeats Carleton, then there will be a three way tie for third place in the MIAC between Augsburg, Carleton, and St. Olaf, who would all have 14 points. In the event of a tie in the MIAC table, the first tiebreaker is head to head record. In this scenario (Carleton losing), Carleton would have a record of 0-2 against the other teams in the tie, while Augsburg would have a record of 1-1 and St. Olaf a record of 2-0. Thus, Augsburg and St. Olaf would be the final two playoff teams, with St. Olaf earning the third seed by virtue of their victory over the Auggies today.
Thus, Augsburg has clinched a playoff bid, and regardless of the outcome of the Oles-Knights match, will have the number four seed in the MIAC playoffs, and will face Macalester in the MIAC semifinals.
The scenario boils down to this: Saturday's match is essentially a playoff match. If the Knights win or tie, their season continues, but if they lose, their season is over.
Saturday's match will be played at 11 a.m. across the Cannon River at St. Olaf. If the Knights win or tie, then they will have a semifinal match against the number two seed Concordia in Moorhead on Wednesday, Nov. 3.