MIAC 2013

[GarbageGoals33]

After a disappointing end to last season for both MIAC schools in the NCAA tournament I am hoping to see the MIAC place two teams in the tournament again this season.  The MIAC is going to be very tight between the top 6 teams (Car, UST, GAC, STO, SJU, and Aug).  The coaches poll below shows CarlEton as the pre-season favorite and it is hard to argue with that.  They are returning Bartholomay and McGarrity (two of the top 10 players in the conference) which should make them a top 4 team.  Rapidsarda (UST), Rosenthal (STO), and Coborn (SJU) will all be relied upon heavily to produce for their teams if they are going to be successful.  Augsburg will likely need to get their goals from a variety of sources and will also need to stay very organized defensively if they are to compete for a MIAC playoff position.  GAC is returning several key players from last years team so I expect them to make the MIAC playoffs.  Zach Brown is a threat uptop while Charlie Adams and David Lilly will be a top 2 center midfield pairing in the conference.  GAC loses Lucas Thompson on the backline which is a big loss.  They have a couple of returning players (Schmith and Schwab) that should be able to step up nicely, as well as a transfer from Drake (Ryan Schultz). Additionally they are returning Ylonen in net which bodes well for their backline.   


Coaches Poll:

1. CarlEton
2. St. Thomas
3. GAC
4. St. Olaf
5. SJU
6. Augsburg
7. MAC
8. SMU
9. Concordia
10. Hamline
11. Bethel

[GarbageGoals33]

Todays big games involving MIAC teams:

GAC at St. Scholastica

and

UW-Superior at Augsburg

I expect both games to be very tight.

Predictions:

GAC 2 CSC 1
UWS 1 Aug 0

[gustiefan04]

GAC 2-0 CSS
UWS 1 - AUG 1

C'mon You Gusties!

[cowlingluver]

if ( $blnIfHellDoesntBreakLoose ) {
  $aryFinalFour = array(

    $strFirstPlace = "Carleton"; // because it is obvious and there frankly isn't another team that can compete.
    $strSecondPlace = "St Thomas"; // because they usually cheat a couple times and squeak out wins
    $strThirdPlace = "St Olaf"; // because the are conveniently located near carleton
    $intFourthPlace = "Augsburg"; // cause they arn't gac and im tired of the forum defending the gac'ers

  );

} else {

  $aryFinalFour = array(
   
    //lols same thing. only chiming in now because was lambasted for jumping in late before to root for the cArls!
    $strFirstPlace = "Carleton";
    $strSecondPlace = "St Thomas";
    $strThirdPlace = "St Olaf";
    $intFourthPlace = "Augsburg";

  );



}

[keeker]

What in the name of sam hill is happening to Macalester? Do they need to bring Barker back?
They looked bad against Wheaton as expected but I thought they would give them a bit of resistance. But nada.
Then it was incredible how inept they were against Augustana giving up all those goals in 5 mins. The frshmen kid looked legit , though. He was quick with good control and movements. Too bad the team sucks.

[KICKIN95]

Gotta give CSS some props, they have shown up this year ready to make a statement. Sounds like GAC had some early chances, but couldn't find the back of the net.

[gustiefan04]

Tough break for GAC yesterday. Seemed to have the better of the play. But you have to score to win, and CSS put out a great defensive effort to preserve the lead.

Tough weekend ahead for Gustavus as they head to Oshkosh to play UWS and UWO, both of which seem to be in great form to start the season.

[GarbageGoals33]

Nice result for CSC yesterday, looks like they absorbed quite a bit of GAC pressure and hung on for the 1-0 win on a PK goal.

Big win for Augsburg yesterday vs. UWS (3-1).  Ben Henry (freshmen) notched two goals for the Auggies while Edi Becerra had a couple of assists.  UWS lost a center back with 10 minutes to play to a red card so he will miss the GAC match. 

I heard that UST lost a starting back for the season in their most recent game (Shane Marshall) due to an ACL injury.  Big loss for UST as Marshall is a very solid player.  Hopefully he makes a speedy recovery.

This weekends big games for MIAC teams:

SJU @ Wartburg 

Prediction: 2-1 SJU.  Too much Coborn.

Augsburg @ Luther

Prediction: 1-0 Luther.  Hard to bet against the Norse after winning against Trinity down in Tx.

GAC vs. UWS

Prediction: 2-0 GAC.  Should be a hard fought game on neutral ground.  I expect GAC to pull this one out after losing to CSC.

CarlEton @ CSC

Prediction: 1-1. 

GAC @ UWO

Prediction: 0-0

[gustiefan04]

Solid weekend for GAC putting up an OT win over UW superior and a 0-0 draw against UWO in back to back days.

Auggies also with a nice W this weekend over Luther.

Carleton ties CSS 0-0. A surprising result. Looks like CSS could be solid this year, keeping up with several top teams in the region. (although the tie with concordia is a bit suspect).

[Puerco Espin]

Caught the UWO-GAC match. Was very impressed with how GAC responded after going down to 10 men. UWO came out real strong and played aggressive, but they could only maintain that for the opening 15 minutes.

GAC started the second half with what appeared to be a majority of the bench players, with their starters coming in around the 60'. Interesting tactic, but it worked because GAC was able to play quicker with their second line players before bringing the starters back in and return to their technical approach.

[Sirius90]

What in the name of sam hill is happening to Macalester? Do they need to bring Barker back?

They need to bring Leaney back: one of the great all-time D3 coaches.

[keeker]

Caught the wartburg carleton game yesterday. It was so boring that my screensaver saved me from wasting the whole 90 minutes as it came on near the half time and wouldn't turn off.  So only watched first 30 or so minutes of the game, wartburg should have put away carleton early.  Carleton reminds me of vanilla ice cream - nothing exciting, completely bland.  Just pass around a bit here there then, boom, long pass to forwards. Didn't work. So repeat. Didn't work. Repeat. I thought they were suppose to be even better this year. Oh well.
Wartburg is a much improved team from last year but there defenders are not too good. Overall very boring 1st half and i imagine the 2nd half was no different.

[GarbageGoals33]

keeker, how long have you been a CarlEton fan?

I didn't get a chance to see any of the game unfortunately.  Based on results it looks like Wartburg has improved quite a bit which is good for the region (and the always below average IIAC).

There are a few decent games this weekend involving MIAC teams, unfortunately I think we could see a real smacking around as a conference...

UST vs. UWO  Prediction: UST 0-2 UWO

Wheaton (Ill.) @ Augsburg  Prediction :Wheaton 3-1 Augsburg

UWS @ MAC Prediction: UWS 3 - 0 MAC

SJU @ UWP  Prediction SJU 3 - 0 UWP

SJU @ Loras Prediction SJU 1 - Loras 3

Wheaton (Ill.) @ Bethel Prediction: Wheaton 8 Bethel 0

[BradleyFan001]

The Carleton game was not the most exciting of games, but I can't imagine the GAC - Martin Luther (7-0) game was much more interesting. Sounded like a barn burner...

I'll copy Garabage Goals' format (but you did forget some games):

UST vs. UWO  Prediction: UST 1-2 UWO

Wheaton (Ill.) @ Augsburg Prediction:Wheaton 2-2 Augsburg

UWS @ MAC Prediction: UWS 2 - 0 MAC

SJU @ UWP  Prediction SJU 1 - 2 UWP

SJU @ Loras Prediction SJU 1 - Loras 2

Luther @ Olaf Prediction: Luther 1 - Olaf 1

Aurora @ Carleton Prediction Aurora 0 - Carleton 3

[GarbageGoals33]

Not certain who mentioned anything about the GAC - Martin Luther game... The Gustavus faithful do not claim keeker as one of theirs.

Whoops... I didn't realize Luther played St. Olaf.

St. Olaf 2 Luther 0