Video of Emma Dobbins game-winning goal (Quicktime)
Northfield, Minn. – Emma Dobbins (Fy./Portland, Ore./Grant) scored in the 80th minute, pouncing on her own rebound, Yusi He (So./South Pasadena, Calif.) made two saves in recording her 12th shutout of the season and Carleton hung on to beat 22nd-ranked Macalester, 1-0, in the MIAC Playoff semifinals.
The Knights (12-5-2) advance to the conference tournament finals to face top-seeded Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.
The win eliminated Macalester from the MIAC playoffs, which means that a team other than the Scots will win the MIAC playoffs for the first time since playoffs were introduced in 2003. The Scots had won each of the past three MIAC playoffs.
Carleton defeated Macalester for the second time in a week, as the Knights defeated the Scots 1-0 in overtime last Wednesday. Prior to last Wednesday's match, Macalester had not lost in over two years, but Carleton has now defeated the Scots twice in a week long span.
"Macalester has established themselves as a power both regionally and nationally, and to beat them twice like this shows that we can be a program of that caliber as well." Carleton head coach Keren Gudeman said.
The game was a tale of two halves, as the Scots dominated possession in the first half and outshot the Knights 4-2.
Macalester almost scored in the 29th minute, when Meghan Garrity broke through the Knights defense, but her shot from 15 yards out hit the post. Annie Borton ran on to the rebound and was staring at an open net, but He recovered to make a fantastic reaction save to keep her team level.
The Scots outshot Carleton 3-0 in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but the Knights began to control the play after the 60th minute, holding Macalester without a shot for the rest of the match.
"I'm really proud of the fact that they outplayed us in the first half, but we came back and gained the momentum," Gudeman said. "The goal was a great example of two players coming off the bench and creating a spark."
The Knights goal came in the 80th minute, when Melley Turner (So./St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy) crossed the ball into the box. Dobbins and Macalester goalkeeper Jenny Lee raced for the ball, and Dobbins got there first, sliding to poke the ball into a sliding Lee as the two players collided into each other. The ball popped free, Dobbins was the quickest player to her feet, and she finished into an open net.
Carleton will now travel to Moorhead to face Concordia-Moorhead in the MIAC championship match on Saturday. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. The winner of that match will receive the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
