MIAC 2013

GarbageGoals33 · October 09, 2013, 01:49:35 PM

Midweek + weekend predictions:

Olaf 2 Hamline 0
Olaf 3 MAC 1
Bethel 1 SJU 4
GAC 2 UST 0
Concordia 0 Hamline 1
CarlEton 1 Augsburg 1

gustiefan04 · October 09, 2013, 03:03:46 PM

Olaf 1 Hamline 0
Olaf 1 MAC 1
Bethel 1 SJU 2
GAC 3 UST 1
Concordia 1 Hamline 1
CarlEton 0 Augsburg 1

BradleyFan001 · October 10, 2013, 06:31:48 PM

Olaf 2 MAC 1
Bethel 0 SJU 2
GAC 2 UST 1
Concordia 1 Hamline 1
Carleton 1 Augsburg 1

KnightRider23 · October 11, 2013, 03:47:18 PM

Olaf 1 Mac 0
Bethel 2 SJU 2
GAC 2 UST 1
Cobbers 1 Hamline 2
Carleton 2 Augsburg 1

gustiefan04 · October 12, 2013, 04:16:42 PM

GAC with 1-0 win over UST.

KnightRider23 · October 13, 2013, 12:34:20 AM

Knights with a resounding 3-1 victory over the Auggies. Passalino with a hat trick? Yeah, no big deal. Great result. Bring on the Scots!!!

GarbageGoals33 · October 14, 2013, 12:16:09 PM

Nice win for Gustavus this weekend at St. Thomas. The Tommies came out strong in the first half and held onto the ball well. Despite the possession early on St. Thomas didn't create much for dangerous opportunities. GAC picked up the intensity quite a bit in the second half and was knocking at the door for majority of the final 30 minutes. The goal for Gustavus was a beauty. A great ball was whipped in by Bjerk who found Tranoris (perfectly timed run behind the back line) for a sweet half volley past the UST keeper. Miles Stockman-Willis from UST was red carded in the 90th minute per the box score. I didn't see what happened or see the card given.

Here are the current standings and schedule for teams that have a chance to make the MIAC playoffs

Team Pts. Record Remaining teams to play Analysis
Gustavus 18 6-0 MAC, Aug, @Bethel, Ham 3 of last 4 at home. GAC should hopefully lockup the title @ Bethel.
St. Olaf 13 4-1-1 @SMU, UST, Aug, Car 3 major tests remaining, all at home to end the season
St. Thomas 11 3-1-2 @SJU, @ STO, Car, @Aug 4 tough games remaining for UST, they may be on the outside looking in
Carleton 10 3-1-1 MAC, Ham, @Con, @UST, @STO 2 hard away games to end the season. Will the CarlE's miss the 2013 playoffs?
Saint John's 10 3-2-1 UST, @Aug, SMU, @Con SJU will need to win 3 of 4 to have a chance at making the playoffs.
Augsburg 9 3-2 Ham, SJU, @GAC, @STO, UST The Auggies will need to accumulate 10 points in their last 5 matches.
Macalester 8 2-2-2 @Car, @GAC, @Con, @SMU 4 away games and MAC will need to go 3-0-1 in order to advance.

BradleyFan001 · October 15, 2013, 10:18:10 AM

Freshmen with a hat-trick for Carleton? Huge two weeks for Carleton, along with the rest of the top 6 teams. Good breakdown GG.

Bethel @ Concordia: 1-2. crickets...crickets...crickets.
St. Thomas @ SJU: 1-1 Huge game for both sides
Mac @ Carleton: 0-2. Knights will keep on riding the wave after beating the Auggies
STO @ SMU: 3-0 SMU has only scored two goals in the MIAC this year.
Hamline @ Augsburg: 0-1 With a win, Auggies stay in the hunt.

GarbageGoals33 · October 15, 2013, 01:52:38 PM

Predictions:

Bethel @ Concordia: 3-3 Barn burner in Moorehead

St. Thomas @ SJU: 1-0 UST, if Stockman-Willis is out due to suspension (red card) the Tommies will struggle to score but should come out on top.

Mac @ CarlEton: 1-2 CarlEs. Must win for both teams.

STO @ SMU: 2-0. Oles win in Winona.

Hamline @ Augsburg: 0-1

GarbageGoals33 · October 17, 2013, 11:50:35 AM

MIAC results and analysis:
Bethel 3 @ Concordia 2: Nice result for the Beths away from home.

UST 2 @ SJU 2: Without Stockman-Willis UST draws @ SJU. This was the Tommies easiest game of their four remaining going into the game. This may be a year where the Tommies fall on their face due to their inconsistencies (Hamline, MAC, SJU). Could SJU sneak into the playoffs with a positive string of results?

MAC 0 @ CarLEton 2: Nice win for the CarlE's. They shouldn't have a problem making the MIAC playoffs (#2 or #3 seed) as no teams below them can string together wins.

Hamline 0 @ Augsburg 1: Necessary win for the Auggies. Their loss @ Bethel earlier this season could be their demise. The Auggies have a tough conference schedule remaining against teams that will all be battling for a MIAC playoff spot.

St. Olaf 4 @ SMU 1: Oles take care of business in Winona.

Weekend games and predictions:

Bethel 1 @ SMU 0: Bethel wins their second consecutive conference road game for the first time since the 2004 season (Note: they had actually won three consecutive road games in '04 enroute to their only MIAC playoff appearance @ CarlEton 1-0, @SMU 1-0, @GAC 1-0)

Hamline 0 @ CarlEton 3: CarlEton takes care of business at home before they play their last 3 MIAC games on the road.

SJU 1 @ Augsburg 2: Must win for both teams. The Auggies should have the edge at home.

MAC 0 @ GAC 2: The Gusties will look to keep their unbeaten untied conference streak intact vs. the Scots.

Non-conference games:

UC-Santa Cruz @ St. Olaf: 3-0 Oles. What happened to the UCSC program? The Banana Slugs used to be a top 10 program and they have fallen off the map dramatically... Only 1 win this year?!?!

UCSC @ UST: 2-0 UST.

repete · October 17, 2013, 12:17:58 PM

Probably too late for the Jays but Ian Scudder made his first appearance of the season vs. USTd. His absence (9g, 7a last season) hurt them all fall.

gustiefan04 · October 17, 2013, 01:30:30 PM

The tie between UST and SJU certainly doesn't help to clear up the playoff picture any!

GAC seems to be a shoe in at this stage, assuming they don't implode, 2 more wins all but guaruntees them at least a share of the MIAC title. The Northfield duo are both looking pretty good for playoff spots as well, although they've got a couple of tough contests remaining.

I think the Auggies or SJU could end up with the 4th spot over UST. It's about that time of year for the Thommies to take a nose dive.

Weekend games and predictions:

Bethel 1 @ SMU 0: Should be a real barn burner..

Hamline 0 @ CarlEton 2: I expect the CarlE's will handle the pipers with ease.

SJU 2 @ Augsburg 3 OT: Auggies pull off another OT win.

MAC 0 @ GAC 3: GAC handles the Scots with little trouble.

Non-conference games:

UC-Santa Cruz 1 @ St. Olaf 3: UCSC has been off my radar for a while. What a fall they've taken over the last few years.

UCSC 0 @ UST 2: Another L for the Slugs, and a good opportunity for the Thommies to regain their form, heading into the last few conference games, which are really must win games.

KnightRider23 · October 18, 2013, 02:51:05 PM

Weekend predictions:

Bethel 2 SMU 0: SMU just can't catch a break

Hamline 0 Carleton 2: Knights continue their undefeated streak to 9 games.

SJU 1 Augsburg 3: Big playoff implications in this match. Loser probably out of the playoff race for good.

Mac 0 GAC 1: Gac does enough to break down a resilient Mac team.

As for the playoffs, I'd probably say GAC are a shoo-in for the title, unless they really choke in the last few games (which is highly unlikely). CarLEs and oLEs will tussle it out for that 2nd place spot and potentially the right to who gets a potential at large berth in the NCAA's (if the MIAC gets two bids). Augsburg and the Tommies will battle it out for the fourth playoff spot unless they are able to string together a few wins together. Should be a pretty fascinating playoff race...

GarbageGoals33 · October 21, 2013, 11:11:42 AM

Weekend Recap:

Bethel 0 SMU 1: SMU picks up their first W of the MIAC season.

Hamline 0 CarlEton 2: Two goals from McGarrity in what looked like a dominating performance on paper. The CarlE's are turning it on late in the season.

SJU 1 Augsburg 0: Not the result the Auggies were looking for.

Mac 0 GAC 2: I attended this match and it was cold, wet, and windy (if you can imagine that). GAC controlled the possession in the first half but didn't generate many dangerous opportunities. The GAC backline (with the exception of Elliott Emerson who played solid all game long) did not look sharp in the first half, they took several unecessary challenges where Mac players walked right passed them. If GAC were playing a stronger opponent today they would've likely been punished in the first half. The majority of the second half was played in Mac's end with GAC creating several great opportunities. Both of GAC's goals were very nice. Both goals were a result of a killer throughball from a midfielder (Adams/Sendelbach) that found the foot of Zach Brown who made no mistake with his opportunities.

Updated standings for teams with MIAC playoff hopes:

Team Pts. Record Remaining teams to play Analysis
Gustavus 21 7-0 Aug, @Bethel, Ham GAC will be disappointed if they don't finish the conference season 10-0
St. Olaf 16 5-1-1 UST, Aug, Car The MIAC playoffs are basically starting right now for the Oles.
CarlEton 16 5-1-1 @Con, @UST, @STO See St. Olaf
Saint John's 14 4-2-2 SMU, @Con SJU have a legit chance of making the playoffs with two wins. WHODATHUNKIT?
St. Thomas 12 3-1-3 @STO, Car, @Aug UST may need to win out to make the playoffs which isn't very likely.
Augsburg 12 4-3 @GAC, @STO, UST See UST.

Here are my thoughts on potential MIAC MVP candidates.

MIAC MVP Race:

Gustavus:

* Zach Brown: Leading the conference in goals (7), game winning goals (4), and points (16). GAC has three games remaining vs. Augsburg/Hamline/Bethel so he should be adding to each of these categories. Brown has been a force in the conference since he entered as a freshman. He is a pure goal scorer and will likely be the leading scorer in the conference while playing for the conference champion. Brown is certainly a first team all-region player and should be earning all-american honors this season.

* David Lilly: Tied for the lead in the conference with 5 assists. Lilly pulls all the strings in the midfield for GAC. Lilly is very dangerous on the ball whether he is dribbling or playing in a killer pass for a GAC goal. He is a player that can be relied upon to play 90 minutes in a game at a very high level without losing a step. Like Brown, Lilly should be earning first team all-region honors and should be highly considered an all-american candidate.

CarlEton:

* Branden McGarrity: Second in the league with 6 goals and second in the league with 15 points. McGarrity is putting together another solid season for the Knights and will likely hold every scoring record for CarlEton by the time he graduates. I would expect McGarrity to earn 1st or 2nd team all-region honors this season.

* Neil Bartholomay: Bartholomay is one of the more physically dominant center backs the MIAC has had in quite a while. He has upped his game this year scoring 5 goals with a couple of game winners. Bartholomay was an AA last year and I expect much of the same this season as he is anchoring one of the top defensive teams in the nation.

Possible outside contenders:

* Nick Rapisarda (UST): Last years MIAC MVP is having a decent season. The additional of Miles Stockman-Willis to this years team has had an impact on his statistics and one would've thought UST would be a conference title contender (not the case).

* Mackenzie Lund (St. Olaf): Very good player on a very good team.

KnightRider23 · October 21, 2013, 05:51:41 PM

Nice recap GG. It's looking pretty likely that Gac will go undefeated this season, which is an unbelievable achievement in such a tough league like the MIAC. If Olaf or Carleton win out the rest of the year that would have been enough to win the title almost any other year. Hopefully the NCAA takes notice in a few weeks when handing out at large bids.

The SJU/Augs result really changes the playoff race, and I'm pretty surprised that they were able to pull off the win (after relatively unconvincing performances against Mac and Carleton). I don't see SJU losing either one of their final two games, but this season has been pretty unpredictable so who knows what will happen. STo, Car, UST, and Augs face some challenging games in the final two weeks of the season.

As for MVPs, Brown and McGarrity are looking like the two prime candidates at this point. Kenzzzzzziiiiieeeeeee Lund has done well to pick up the production with Rosenthal being injured for various stretches this season. But Lilly and Bartho are equally deserving as well. Really don't think the MVP can come from anywhere except Gac, Carleton, or STo this year.