Preview: #6 Concordia at #2 Gustavus

MIAC SEMIFINALS: #6 Concordia (12-7-0/6-5-0 MIAC) at #2 Gustavus (11-6-1/8-3-0 MIAC) 

DATE: November 4, 2015
LOCATION: St. Peter, Minn. (Gustavus Field)
GAME TIME: 2 p.m.
TICKETS: $7 for adult and $3 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC Passes will be honored. No other passes are to be accepted.

Live Video: Gustavus Stretch Internet GameDay


Live Stats: Gustavus GameDay

2015 MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament

Nov. 3 (Tuesday)
MIAC Quarterfinals
No.6 seed Concordia 1 @ No.3 seed Macalester 0
No.5 seed St. Catherine 0 @ No.4 seed Augsburg 2

Nov. 4 (Wednesday)
MIAC Semifinals
No.4 Augsburg @ No.1 seed St. Thomas 2 p.m.
No.6 Concordia @ No.2 seed Gustavus 2 p.m.

Nov. 7 (Saturday)
MIAC Championship
Lowest remaining seed @ Highest remaining seed 1 p.m.

Complete MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament History (pdf)

MIAC Team Playoff Notes:
- Concordia is making its 13th consecutive MIAC playoff appearance and 13th straight trip to the conference semifinals. CC is the only team in the conference to appear in all 13 postseason tournaments. 
- Concordia has played in 22 conference playoff games and owns an 9-7-6 mark. The Cobbers have a 5-1 record in the five ties that were decided by a penalty kick shootout. CC has won the tournament title four times in the past nine years (2012, 2010, 2007, 2006).
- This will be the first time that the two teams have matched up in the postseason.
- Gustavus is making its first-ever appearance in the MIAC playoffs.  
- The Gusties are making their first trip to the postseason since the 1998 season when they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Macalester. The Scots eventually went on to win the NCAA championship that season.      

Cobbers vs. Gustavus Series History:

Series started: 1978

Gustavus leads overall series: 21-16-5

Series Synopsis: The Cobbers are unbeaten against the Gusties in the last 13 meetings between the two schools. Concordia has also won seven straight since a 1-1 2OT in 2008 in St. Peter. The last time that Gustavus prevailed was back in 2002 in St. Peter. Since that time the Cobbers are 11-0-2 and have won all five games at the Jake Christiansen Athletic Complex. Before 2002 it was all Gustavus as they had rattled off 14 straight against Concordia. The tide turned in 2003 when CC beat GAC 1-0 in overtime on a goal by former Cobber great Morgan Bain...the most goals scored by one team in a single game in the series is 11. The Gusties beat CC 11-0 back in 1994.
      

Earlier This Year: Gustavus 2 at Concordia 3 
The teams played last Wednesday with Concordia holding on for a 3-2 win in Moorhead. The Cobbers scored a pair of goals 55-seconds apart in the second half to beat the Gusties.

Concordia scored a single goal in the first half and then watched as the Gusties tied the score at the 49:00-minute mark. The Cobbers then won the game with a goal from Emily Wendorff at 55:00 and then the game-winning goal at 55:55 from Paige McCullough.

One of the biggest moments of the game came on the ensuing spot kick. Cobber goalie Elizabeth Bitzan, who was playing in her first game since suffering a lower leg injury on Oct. 19, stopped the initial penalty shot. The ball rebounded right back to the player who took the kick and that is when Bitzan made the save of the game. Bitzan quickly scrambled to her feet and then turned the second shot on to the crossbar where it caromed away from goal. The Cobber defense then swarmed to the ball and was able to clear the danger before a third shot on goal could be taken.

The double save on the PK would seem even bigger when Gustavus scored four minutes later to bring the game within a goal at 3-2.

Gustavus outshot the Cobbers 14-12 in total shots and 9-7 in shots on goal. Wendorff and Holm each had a team-high three shots.   

Stat Central:

- 2015 Concordia Statistics

- 2015 Gustavus Statistics

- 2015 MIAC Statistics

- 2015 Concordia NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

- 2015 Gustavus NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

3 Stars of the Game - 3 notes to make you a start while watching the game
1. The size of the field will be a big factor in the semifinal game. The Gustavus field is 85 yards wide as compared to the 67-yard wide field in Moorhead. The extra space will help the Gusties as they are used to the 18 extra yards.    

1B. Concordia is 7-3-0 on the road this year against teams playing at home (CC was 0-2 on the road in games played on a neutral field). The Cobbers have conceded at least one goal in eight of the 10 road games this year. CC has posted only two road shutouts on the year with one coming on Tuesday in the MIAC semifinals.  The Gusties are 7-1-1 at home this year which is the same home record that Macalester had heading into the playoffs. GAC was 5-1 at home in conference games and is coming off a 1-0 overtime win over Hamline in the seaosn finale.  

2. Concordia is 9-1 in games when leading scorer Emily Wendorff scores a goal. She has scored a single goal in back-to-back games on three occasions this year and is coming off the game-winning goal at Macalester. Wendorff scored against the Gusties last week and that was a part of a back-to-back goal scoring stint. Gustavus is 4-3-0 when leading scorer Maddison Ackiss scores a goal. They went 3-1 against MIAC foes when she scored a goal. She is on a scoring drought as she hasn't scored in eight games.     

3. Gustavus has scored at least one goal in all 18 games this season. The last time the Gusties were shutout was on Oct. 25, 2014 at home against Augsburg. It is a streak that spans 21 games. Concordia was shutout three times in 2015 including the regular-season finale on Saturday.     

Scouting the Gusties:
Gustavus heads into their first-ever MIAC playoff appearance having lost three of its past four games. Before that stretch the Gusties had won five straight and 10 of the past 11. Gustavus was the surprise team of the MIAC in 2015. The Gusties finished 11th in the MIAC in 2014 and were picked to finish 11th in the annual conference coaches' poll.

The Gusties finished the conference season with an 8-3-0 record which was good for a tie for second place in the final league standings. The eanred the No.2 seed in the tournament by virtue of a 2-0 win against Macalester in the middle of September.     

Gustavus is led by junior forward Maddison Ackiss. Ackiss has a team-leading eight goals and 18 points. She also has a team-leading 45 shots and had an assist on the first goal in the game last week against CC. Sophie Leininger has a team-best nine assists. That is the third best total in the MIAC this season. She has a pair of two-assist games and GAC is 5-0-1 when she records a helper in a game. 

Gustavus was in the top 3 of the MIAC in four different offensive statistical categories in conference play. The Gusties were second in shots on goal and third in both goals scored and shot percentage. 

Cobber SID Picks To Click:
Offense - #20 Emily Wendorff, Jr., F
Are you surprised? When Wendorff scores the Cobbers are 9-1. Give her the ball around the penalty area - end of story. 


Defense - #22 Alexandra Jones, So., M/#12 Abby Vogelsberg, Jr., M
The two central midfielders will be at the forefront of stopping/slowing down the Gustavus offense in the middle of the field when the ball gets turned over. The pair will be especially called upon in the game because of the bigger field at Gustavus. Both the Gustie goals last Wednesday came after the ball was pulled back from the GAC attack and layed off for players trailing the play. The ability for the Cobber midfield to come back and secure that space at the top of the penalty area will be a huge factor. 

Cobber Women's Soccer MIAC Playoff Preview Video