I also will add that the '04 fact was strictly about regular season games on Bell Field (since the lists were specifically about that game). Playoffs are a whole different animal so I wasn't technically wrong.

I'm glad that a novelty account that will be outdated as soon as next season rolls around was created to highlight a mistake I made. Must mean I've really made it here on the boards...I'm honored 

Looks like I'm going to have to update the lists to make them current. Hopefully it'll be all together in a post lauding a Carleton win and previewing a MIAC championship in Northfield.

GG, there's no hate from my end. I was just commenting on how bad Carleton was in the previous game this year between these two teams. Everyone's entitled to a prediction that will ultimately blow up in their face (myself included). Just hoping there isn't any bad refereeing that spoils the game for either side. Other than that I don't think anyone can rule out anything from happening.

SJU and Olaf should be a slugfest. That landfill that they call a field should be in decent shape (relative to last year's sham of a field), so there'll be plenty of times for the Johnnies to get their hips dirty. I think Olaf pulls it off 2-1 as well, but I can see it going either way. The day of recovery gives Olaf another edge in what should be a tight game.

GAC vs Carleton should be a tight one too, but GG i think you are underestimating how bad Carleton were in this game earlier in the season. I think the gameplan against GAC is pretty simple: Stay compact defensively and keep that physical edge, especially in the midfield. SJU has proved how effective that can be in their last two matchups. And Carleton has significantly changed their style of play since that game, and that has led to much tighter games. The big question is how GAC utilizes that possession that they have. Carleton had good moments of possession today in addition to being direct, which is always a nice balance to have. Worked in 2012 and 2013 for Carleton. No reason it can't work now, especially with that backline being GAC's weakest point to attack. I think it's tied going into halftime, and the Knights pull it out 2-1 or 1-1 in PKs.

Ok. Let's move away from Carleton beating St. Zero (again... ) and talk about Tuesday's matches.

First of all, both games are starting at 11:30 am CST, which is incredibly early compared to usual start times in the MIAC. Almost ridiculously early, but the MIAC are in a bind with both Carleton hosting two matches that day and St. John's hosting the St. Ben's match as well that day. At least the two fields that are hosting matches (SJU/Carleton) have good grass fields that won't turn into mush at the first sign of rain/snow (cough Olaf cough), so at least the play on the field shouldn't be dictated by bad conditions.

Carleton vs St. Thomas (#3 vs #6): St. Thomas won their first game in nearly a month yesterday to qualify for the playoffs. Their record in October was a respectable 1-4-2, worthy enough of having an opportunity to go to the NCAA Tournament. And Carleton hasn't lost to St. Thomas since 2005. I'll lay off the lists this time (but boy a lot of stuff went down in '05...World Series champs Chicago White Sox!!!), but here's something that occurred in '05 (besides my inconceivable amount of high school awkwardness): YouTube was created. Without YouTube, we could never have watched this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7DZnw4S5_I

Carleton wins 2-0. McGarrity and Jordy with the goals.

SJU vs Mac (4th vs 5th): An intriguing game. I've only seen a bit of each team this year (both playing Carleton), so I won't pretend I know too much outside of those games. Mac is a solid unit that has steadily improved from last year, and it's nice to see them in the playoffs again. Previous game between these two sides ended up 2-1 to the Johnnies. I could honestly see it going both ways, but I'll go with the Johnnies in OT 2-1.

But St. Olaf students have never done that before...not in 2011 when they stormed the field and yelled obscenities at Carleton players leaving the field, or during 2013 in the regular season finale AND the playoff game when they yelled genital-based taunts towards the Carleton goalie throughout the entire second half. 

I hate when Oles take a moral high ground (and when you selectively ignore events that diminish your argument). College kids are college kids. I don't condone flicking off fans and mooning (that's just a stupid thing to do), but don't pretend that this is just exclusive to Carleton kids.

Oh I don't expect anything resembling logic from Kurt. That's how terrible of a decision it was. And everyday I'm thankful for it.

And I have no issues with people making videos. That was just an embarrassing video. When we have dudes just showing off six packs, covering their heads with beanie baby caps, performing strangely sensual leg lifts and contorting their bodies to beat off incoming balls flying in their general direction, I think of it less of a "ha-ha let's go team" promo video and more of a "i'm beginning to really appreciate the work of legendary adult film star Ron Jeremy" montage/tribute video. Which is fine (not my cup of tea personally), but in no way makes me think you are "ready" (your words, not mine) for a competitive soccer game. A soft-core porno? Perhaps.

Here is what I'm talking about if we want a respectable college soccer video. Simple, minimally sexual, and no mis-hit bicycle kicks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuH7PiJ5x5k

Or watch that Badger, Badger video. I'm still figuring out what that was...

Of all the positions on the field, why would you take out the goalkeeper for rest? At this point in the season?  The most exercise he would have gotten during the game was picking the ball out of the net. Since it seems like you know what you are talking about re: Olaf soccer Jimmy, then that is some real stupidity from Kurt. Maybe all that time he's spent on the hill has had an effect on his intelligence. I've heard that happens to people who spend too much time over there 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7DZnw4S5_I

Never forget. Clearly the video made all the difference this year. I look forward to the playoff video encore. Since it'll be another year at least until the Oles have a potential chance to beat the Knights at Bell Field again, lets get a brief, final list of things that have happened since the Community College have won on Bell Field:

1. A young Belgian/Kosovar/Albanian kid named Adnan Januzaj had his 9th birthday, started his professional career in Belgium in 2005 as a 10 year old, went through puberty, joined Manchester United at the age of 16, made the first team squad, then his debut, then played in a World Cup for Belgium. Not too shabby.

2. Ken Jennings finally lost in Jeopardy after finalizing his winning streak at 74 games, raking in an amazing $2.5 million. Not to mention the endless amount of transitions between mustache/no mustache Alex Trebek.

3. Lance Armstrong won an ESPY award and Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run. Pretty fair to say they've seen better days since then right?

4. St. Olaf has won outright or shared 2 MIAC championships. Carleton has won 5. And that's not even counting the playoff championships...

5. ...and Arsenal still has not won a Premier League trophy.

I'll give credit to Olaf for winning the title, but there is no dominant team in the MIAC this year (Carleton included). Maybe it's because they are shielded behind a parabola-inspired field at home, but I thought their midfield was non-existent. Undlin and Skrip are good players but that's about it for them. And let's not start putting up "2nd string keeper" as an excuse. That dude played in 6 games before today. Carleton were the better team. Let's hope they keep that form up into the playoffs on Tuesday.

Since posting match reports of all Carleton/Northfield Community College games at Bell Field after 2004 would be pretty redundant and boring (SPOILERS: Carleton wins them all), we can just talk about what was going on in 2004:

1. Greece were the best team in Europe, beating a 19 yr old Cristiano Ronaldo in the final. 19!!!!
2. Facebook started. And since then there's been a movie about making Facebook.
3. And the most damning indictment...Arsenal were defending Premier League champions.

You get my drift...and Carleton weren't really even good in the MIAC until maybe 2006, for sure 2007. Maybe its cause they are playing on an actually soccer field, and not a field "good for only planting potatoes" (gotta love Middleton for that little gem), but something about Bell is just kryptonite for the Oles. And what have the Oles done in that time? An outlier in 2011, and a couple playoff appearances here and there but nothing every sustained. Knights continue to dominate on Bell. 2-1 win.

Should be an exciting game between St. Thomas and Augsburg for that final playoff spot. Talk about a fall from grace for the Tommies. 1 win in their last 7 games. 7!!! It's unbelievable how a team like that can consistently find a way to bottle it year after year. Guess you can still do that with a 6 team playoff...sigh

First off, shout out to Branden McGarrity for breaking the record for leading goalscorer in Carleton history, surpassing the great Tim Wills in the process. Still has another year left to leave his mark and extend the record. Pretty impressive stuff.

Oles haven't won on Bell Field since 2004. Lol. Carleton has become very difficult to break down in the last few games, which should make Saturday's game quite interesting. I guess Carleton can't end St. Zero's season like they have the past two seasons, so I guess that might have to wait until next week. But until then, nothing like a little history refresher...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9r7hQzEoXE&index=2&list=PLOyWoOKvkAg6CXHlFdCSUhy47sIcr1ryF

Can't complain about the loss. A couple bounces go Carleton's way and it can easily be a 1-1 (or even 1-0 Carleton if that first goal doesn't deflect as much) game going into the last 20 minutes of that game. Very spirited performance but I'd expect nothing less after that poor Carthage performance midweek. A little more speed in the Carleton attack and they'd be a lock in the top 3 or 4 teams in the North region. Curious to see how Loras deals with St. Thomas on Sunday after a subdued performance tonight. The backlash might be pretty substantial for UST...

St. John's were a decent team last year. Finished 4th in the MIAC and then upset GAC in the MIAC semi-finals only to lose to Carleton in the final 2-0. Maybe the fact that they won their opening two games while the teams below them either only played once or lost? Tough to really take any value from a ranking like this so early in the season...

I was at Carthage-Carleton. Pretty uneventful game on both sides, but Carleton didn't look too good. McGarrity played around 40 mins so it seems like he is being eased into the season (he didn't play at all in the win vs Grinnell). I don't think Carleton connected more than four or five passes in a row and really couldn't get anything going offensively until the last 10-15 mins of the game. Goal was a brutal FK call right outside of the box even though our CB got the ball clean in a tackle. Guy scored directly from the FK. Other than that Carthage didn't create anything dangerous, but neither did Carleton. Too much dribbling, not enough passing made Carthage's defensive efforts a lot easier. Carthage's intensity in defense and transition to winning the ball back was impressive for most of the night.

Given that Loras would probably beat MIAC teams 8 or 9 times out of ten (GAC included), I would be surprised if Loras weren't comfortable winners.

Can't complain with the rankings at all. Carleton and GAC have been the class of the MIAC for the last 3-4 years and you'd have to expect them to be in and around the top 2 come November. I still can't get over the amount of love UST gets year after year, only to repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot and choke come October/November. Only once in the playoffs since '07...and no Rapisarda as well. Northfield's other school has to rebound with no Rosenthal/Kenzieeeeeeeeeeeee, so Skrip has a lot of pressure to produce. Saint John's is a sleeper for me at the 5 spot with a lot of talent, even though the Coborn loss seems pretty massive.

6 teams make the playoffs. Which, in my opinion, is just ridiculous. A 4-4-3 (#3 in preseason poll...lolz) St. Thomas team and a 5-5 (FIVE WINS and FIVE LOSSES!! THEY LOST FIVE TIMES) Augsburg team sneak into the playoffs. Is that what the league is going to come down to at the end of the day? Beat St. Mary's/Concordia/Hamline/Bethel and that puts you three points away from potentially being in the NCAA tournament. Pathetic. And it's a real blow to the 3rd/4th place teams who have to play two games in two days, giving those top seeds a real advantage. I understand other conferences use the 6 team playoff, but I really think it devalues the regular season to have such mediocrity get a shot at the postseason. Would love to hear what others think about that...

GG, you talk about Carleton like they barely did anything last year, when them and Gustavus, at the end of day, finished with almost the exact same endpoint (MIAC champions, quietly whimpering away to Westminster, etc )The Karlies will be right up there at the end of the year per usual, and it helps that GAC's season can't get any better than it did last year. A half-fit McGattity and they still got a MIAC championship last year so imagine if he's healthy (26 points in 2013 to 2012's 42 points). Backline is old enough with some good experience amongst the back four and the underrated Keenan Smith in goal. If they can replace the 18 points that Corcoran provided them from other players on the team, they are right up there for the title come November. Or maybe they finish 5-5 and rest their starters for the entire season and make the playoffs, because apparently that's a thing now.

2014 predictions:

1. Carleton
2. GAC
3. SJU
4. Tommies
(participation awards go to...)
5. Northfield's other school
6. Dogsburg

A little late, but congratulations to Carleton defender Neil Bartholomay on another NSCAA All-American award this season. Him and Zach Brown were likely the most deserving MIAC players to get the award IMO. Bartho will be a big miss on the Carleton back line next year...