MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second time this season, Alvin Bierley (Fy./Santa Cruz, Calif./Leland) delivered a late-game goal to lift the Carleton College men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory. This time, it was his 23-yard rocket in the 88th minute that accounted for all the scoring in a triumph at Augsburg University.
With the win, Carleton (8-6-0, 3-4-0 MIAC) moves into fifth place in the conference standings with only three conference matches remaining. Augsburg (6-7-1, 2-4-1 MIAC) slips to seventh. The top six teams advance to the MIAC Playoffs.
Tonight’s game was played in cold and wet conditions, and over the first 60 minutes scoring chances were few and far between. The teams combined on only seven shots over that span, with the only attempt on goal coming from Carleton’s Andrew Younkins (So./Beaverton, Ore./Westview) in the eighth minute. His shot from distance nearly gave the Knights the early lead but was steered just over the crossbar by Augsburg’s Tony Molski.
The later stages of the contest required more inspired play by the goalkeepers. Brandon Hilliard (Sr./Anoka, Minn./Totino Grace) kept the contest scoreless with a diving stop in the 67th minute. Nine minutes later Molski raced off his line to turn aside a Mark Roth (Jr./Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) counter attack.
In the 85th minute, Hilliard deflected an Aidan Sim-Campos’ attempt from near the penalty kick spot, and with the Carleton keeper on the ground, Roth and Jack Lightbody (Sr./Etna, N.H./Hanover) combined to prevent follow up attempt into the wide-open net.
For the next three minutes, Carleton pressed the attack for the next three minutes, and the Auggies could not get the ball out of their defensive half. Eventually, Spencer Weeden (So./Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton) forced a turnover along the sideline, and Brennan Johnson (Fy./Portland, Ore.) played the ball back to Bierley. The rookie midfielder took a touch around a pair of hard-charging defenders and ripped a long-range laser that beat Molski inside the right post.
Augsburg finished with a slight 10-9 edge in shot attempts, with both Hilliard and Molski registering four saves in the contest.
Carleton will step outside of the conference to face College of St. Scholastica at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16 in Duluth, Minn.
-------------------
