NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men’s soccer team finished the regular season strongly, defeating Saint John’s University by a 2-0 tally on Saturday. That result clinched a home game to begin the postseason and also earned the Knights the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs.
Going into Saturday’s match, a lot was still up in the air for the Knights (14-1-2, 7-1-2 MIAC). Depending on how games around the conference shook out, Carleton could have finished anywhere from earning a share of the MIAC regular-season title to the No. 5 seed, which would have meant opening the playoffs with a road game. Their foe for the finale, Saint John’s (8-7-1, 4-6 MIAC), also came into the match with everything to play for, needing a victory over the home team to secure its own place in the playoffs.
In the first half, Carleton came out hot trying to get an early lead, but multiple great scoring chances were stopped by the official’s whistle as the Knights racked up four offsides within the first 22 minutes of the match. Saint John’s almost got the opening goal in the 27th minute when Paul Wadsworth thundered a one-touch effort off the crossbar, a blast that nearly cracked the frame.
Carleton regrouped however, and Mark Roth (Sr./Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) found Trevor Freeland (Sr./DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) with a through pass in the box in the 45th minute, however the Johnnie goalie was able to get down and stop the shot to keep the match scoreless at intermission.
In the second half, the Knights kept their momentum going, and first-year phenom Marco da Cunha (San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University) notched his MIAC-best 11th goal of the season when he scored the game winner in the 51st minute. The rookie forward received a pass near the midline, and proceeded to power through the Saint John’s defense, before coolly finishing around the keeper.
Freeland added an insurance goal for the home team in the 73rd minute when he out-ran a Johnnie defender to chase down a long ball from Alvin Bierley (So./Santa Cruz, Calif./Leland) and then won a challenge versus the Johnnie keeper 30 yards from the goal line. Freeland managed to poke the ball just hard enough that it trickled into the empty net.
With the clock winding down and its season on the ropes, Saint John’s began an all-out attack, but Knights’ goalie Aaron Forman (So./Los Angeles, Calif./Windward) stood strong and kept the clean sheet in the face of immense pressure.
The Knights have won their last four games and are on a 13-game unbeaten streak dating back to their lone loss of the season back on Sept. 12 at Gustavus Adolphus College. Additionally, the Knights have the most explosive offense in the conference, as evidenced by their conference best 2.59 goals per game average, which is only matched by their best defense in the MIAC, one that is only allowing 0.45 goals per game.
Carleton will enjoy its first-round bye and prepare to host a MIAC Playoffs semifinal match on Wednesday, Oct, 31 at 2:00pm.
