PHOTO GALLERY BY GEOFFREY MO '19 AND RUTHIE YANKWITT '22
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 25-ranked Carleton College men’s soccer team is headed to the NCAA Championships. The Knights and Augsburg University played to a 1-1 (2OT) tie, and Carleton prevailed, 4-3, in a penalty-kick shootout to earn the MIAC’s automatic bid to the national tournament.
(Select shootout highlights at bottom of recap.)
Carleton (15-1-3) got on game’s opening goal in the fourth minute. After getting fouled on the right flank, Mark Roth (Sr./Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) sent a free kick to the far post toward a waiting Marco da Cunha (Fy./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University). Before the ball could get to the MIAC’s leading goal scorer, however, an Augsburg (12-3-4) defender tried to deflect the ball away but instead re-directed it into the goal to give the Knights a 1-1 advantage.
The Knights dominated possession in the first half and had a handful of very promising opportunities, but they could not add to their goal tally.
While Carleton scored on a set piece early in the first half, Augsburg found the equalizer off a free kick late in the period. With exactly two minutes remaining before intermission, Peyton Boich connected with Daniel Hedstrom, who headed home his eighth goal of the season—all off set pieces.
Carleton out-shot the visitors 11-3 in the first half and 21-9 on the afternoon in addition to holding a 9-3 edge in corner kicks.
Carleton goalkeeper Aaron Forman (So./Los Angeles, Calif./Windward) and his counterpart Garrett Kaelin ranked 1-2 in the MIAC this season in goals against average, and both goalies made several high-quality plays to keep the game level. Kaelin was especially busy as he registered a career-best 13 stops on the afternoon.
Carleton first-year Henry Koelling (Ann Arbor, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) nearly broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when his shot following a loose-ball scramble in the box eluded Kaelin but was cleared away by another Auggie. Forman dove to his right to punch away a rocket from Lionel Vang in the 81st minute.
The Knights had a free-kick opportunity in the waning moments of regulation but were unable to get a clean look for a shot.
Upon moving to the first overtime, top-notch defensive effort from both sides prevented any truly dangerous changes. The second extra period saw play move up-and-down more as both sides knew that a potential shootout was lurking in the shadows.
Forman corralled a Hedstrom header in the 105th minute, and Kaelin stepped in front of a William Lanzillo (Sr./Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) attempt a minute later.
Carleton had a trio of corner kicks in the final 55 seconds but Augsburg’s defense withstood the attack. Koeling’s powerful header was somehow re-directed by Kaelin over the crossbar, and the game headed to penalty kicks.
The Knights made the surprise decision to send defender Bryan Kim (Jr./Middleton, Wis./Middleton) to serve as their goalkeeper for the shootout.
“We practiced PK’s this week, and Bryan was a little better than the other guys,” said Carleton head coach Bob Carlson. “Aaron Forman came up huge for us this season, and he was good in practice. Jacob Smith (Fy./McKinleyville, Calif./McKinleyville) is good, too, but Bryan was a little better at practice, so we went to the hot hand.”
Vang was up first for Augsburg, and despite Kim deflecting the shot, the ball trickled across the line to give the visitors the early lead. Kaelin stopped Carleton’s first attempt.
Kim smothered the shot from Taylor Sullivan, and Roth buried his shot to tie the shootout at 1-1. Both Boich and Adam Pearson (Sr./Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) converted in the third round.
Kim punched aside Christian Metzger’s shot, and David Rubin (So./Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills) buried his shot to put Carleton up, 3-2.
Nick Zuchowski made his attempt to open the fifth round to make the score 3-3, and Lanzillo began the long walk from midfield to the penalty spot. The senior converted the deciding attempt, giving Carleton the 4-3 decision and sparking a boisterous on-field celebration.
Carleton advances to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in school history and first time since 2013. The Knights bested Augsburg in penalty kicks, 5-3, after the 2008 MIAC finals was a scoreless draw at Bell Field.
The Knights extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches. Over that span, Carleton has yielded only nine goals.
The 62-team bracket for the NCAA Championships is scheduled to be released on NCAA.com at 12 p.m. CST on Monday, Nov. 5
