UMAC Games of the Week: Minnesota Morris at St. Scholastica - Men's & Women's Soccer
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
The week the league has selected two games to feature as Minnesota Morris will travel to St. Scholastica on Friday in men's and women's soccer action with both games featuring the top two teams in the conference standings. The women's game is slated to begin in Duluth at 1 p.m. on Friday with the men following at 3:15 p.m.
MEN'S SOCCER
For the men, the Saints are currently the top team in the UMAC standings and own a perfect (10-0) conference record while the Cougars are in second place with a 8-2 league record. Both teams have already secured UMAC Post-season Tournament berths, however Friday's game will have seeding implications for the tournament as the first and second place teams from regular season play will earn the right to host the semi-final contests of the four-team conference tournament in November.
About the Cougars
The Cougars will look to close the gap against the conference leaders, St. Scholastica, on Friday. In the previous meeting of the teams this season Minnesota Morris matched the Saints for regulation, losing a hard fought contest 2-1 in overtime. Morris is riding a five match winning streak leading up to Friday’s match with the Saints. During the five match winning streak the Cougars have outscored opponents 21-1.
The Cougars rank second in the league in goals this season and hope to limit the top scoring Saints in Friday's contest. The Cougars need four points this weekend to remain in second place in the conference heading into the final week of the regular season.
About the Saints
The St. Scholastica men's soccer team is coming off a hard-fought 1-1 draw against non-conference rival UW-Superior on Tuesday night. The Saints have not dropped a league game this season, but its toughest UMAC opponent to date has been Minnesota Morris as CSS needed an Andrew Jenkins overtime goal to defeat the Cougars earlier this season. Morris has been one of three conference teams to score against the Saints this season as St. Scholastica has out-scored teams 73-3 through the first 10 games.
The Saints are once again on the NCAA Division III statistical leader board. CSS leads the nation in scoring offense (5.07 goals/game), total goals (76) and assists (84). The second-ranked team in each category is 10 goals and 29 assists back. Andrew Jenkins is currently leading NCAA Division III in goals with 22 while teammate Tom Corcoran is fifth with 16. Joe Watt and Sean Morgan are No. 1 & 2, respectively, in the nation in assists. Morgan had the game-tying goal vs. UWS on Tuesday.
Game Notes
-The last three meetings in the series have been decided by one goal, with the Saints taking all three. The last time Morris visited Saints Field, CSS defeated the Cougars 1-0 in the UMAC Tournament Championship.
- CSS is 15-3-3 all-time against Morris, but two of those three losses have come at home.
- Morris has not beaten St. Scholastica in a regular season match-up since 2009.
- The Cougars and Saints first match-up this season went into overtime.
- CSS's Andrew Jenkins is only three goals shy of tying Neil Runbeck's program record of 57 career goals.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
The Saints currently sit atop the women's soccer conference standings (10-0) while the Cougars are just behind in second place (9-1). The lone conference loss for the Cougars came in late September when the league-leading Saints earned a 1-0 victory in Morris. Much like the men, both teams have already secured a UMAC Post-season Tournament berth with the outcome of Friday's game having tournament seeding and home field advantage implications for both teams.
About the Cougars
Minnesota Morris is riding an eight game winning streak, outscoring opponents 36-0 during that stretch. The Cougars have not surrendered a goal in over 763 minutes. While the Cougars rank second in conference scoring behind the league-leading Saints, the previous meeting between the two teams this season was decided by one goal and featured just five total shots on goal.
Emma LaChance and Carly Denler lead the offense for the Cougars with nine goals each in UMAC play this season. LaChance has a total of 25 points on the season and is the reigning UMAC Offensive Player of the Week after tying a school record last week by scoring four goals in a match.
About the Saints
The St. Scholastica women's soccer team saw its shutout streak come to an end last week at the University of Northwestern, but still have managed to out-score league foes 63-1 this season. The Saints have climbed up the NCAA Division III statistical leader board as they are now ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in scoring offense (4.79 goals/game) and third in points (13.36 points/game).
Senior defender Logan Williamson has been the UMAC Defensive Player of the Week the past two weeks and three times overall this year. The Williamson led defense allowed only three shots in two games last weekend. Offensively, Kelsey Kehtel leads the Saints and the UMAC in goals with 17. She also leads the team and the conference in points with 37. Kelsey Reeves and Megan Seymour have each started six games in net for the Saints. Seymour is a perfect 6-0 with five shutouts, while Reeves has three wins, all by shutout.
Game Notes
-Kehtel is only three goals shy of her third straight 20-goal season. Kehtel has scored a goal in each of the last six games she has appeared.
-The last four meetings in the series have been 1-0 decision with the last three going to the Saints.
- Since 2010, every contest between the two programs has been decided by one goal.
- Last season the Cougars beat St. Scholastica on the road during the regular season match-up.
-The last time Minnesota Morris visited Saints Field for a regular season contest, the Cougars snapped CSS's 99-game conference regular season unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory.
CSS Men's Recap |
UMM Men's Recap Final Score 3-1
CSS Women's Recap |
UMM Women's Recap Final Score 4-0
For information on other contests around the league this week, visit the UMAC's
live scoreboard.