A St. Paul Semifinal Showdown

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/02/23)—Concordia squares off with St. Catherine in St. Paul in the semifinals of the MIAC women's soccer playoff on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. at the Outdoor Field and Courts on the campus of St. Catherine.

Below you will find all the information you need to get ready for the clash to see who plays in the MIAC title game. 

TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $2 for any students (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored. No other passes will be accepted.

WHAT: MIAC Women's Soccer Semifinals

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.

WHERE: St. Catherine Outdoor Field and Courts – St. Paul, Minn.

TEAMS: No.5 Seed Concordia (8-5-4/5-3-3 MIAC) at No.4 seed St. Catherine (14-3-1/9-1-1 MIAC)

LIVE LINKS:  Live Video | Live Stats

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Concordia secured the No.5 seed in the conference playoffs by going 5-3-3 in conference play. The Cobbers earned their first trip to the league playoffs since 2015 by going unbeaten in theor last five league games. They capped that stretch by posting a tie against St. Olaf in the regular-season finale on Saturday. Concordia opened the 2023 postseason by blanking No.4 seed St. Benedict in the semifinals on Monday.

No.2 seed St. Catherine earned their spot in the semifinals by virtue of a bye in the quartefinals after having finished second in the league standings with a 9-1-1 record. The Wildcats capped the season on a 4-0-1 run with the only blemish being the tie at Concordia on Oct. 21   

RECORDS VS. OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS: Concordia went 2-2-1 against the other five MIAC playoff teams. The Cobbers beat Macalester and Augsburg and tied St. Catherine. The Wildcats went 3-1-1 in the regular season against conference playoff squads. St. Catherine beat Augsburg, Macalester and St. Ben's, tied the Cobbers and lost to regular-season champion Carleton 2-1 on Oct. 7.  

HOME AND AWAY: Concordia was 5-3-1 in away games this year and 4-2 on the road against MIAC teams which includes the win over the Bennies on Monday. St. Catherine was 8-1-0 at home this year. That includes a 6-0-0 mark against conference opponents. Their only loss at home came on Sept. 8 against Pomona-Pitxer (Calif.). 

PLAYOFF PEDIGREE: Concordia is making its 14th overall MIAC playoff appearance, the most of any school in the conference. The Cobbers also have the most playoff titles and most tournament wins of any program. CC is 15-9 all-time in the MIAC playoffs. The Cobbers have won the MIAC playoff tournament on four occasions (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012)  and have played in the title game nine times which included a stretch of five straight years from 2004-08. Concordia is 2-8 on the road in the MIAC postseason and 9-4 in semifinal games.

St. Catherine is making its eighth trip to the conference postseason and eighth consecutive trip to the MIAC playoffs. They haven't missed the postseason since the 2014 campaign. The Widcats are 10-4 all-time in the playoffs. St. Catherine has won the last two MIAC tournament championships. In 2023 they beat Macalester in the quarterfinals, St. Ben's in the semifinals and Carleton as the No.3 seed in last year's tournament. Last year's crown was the third for SCU. They also won the championship in 2017 and 2021. The Wildcats have played in three championship games including two straight. St. Catherine is 5-1 in playoff games with their only loss coming in the 2019 quarterfinals against Bethel. The Wildcats are 3-2 in semifinals games.       

PLAYOFF HEAD-TO-HEAD: This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the postseason.    

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: | Photo Gallery | Concordia and St. Catherine battled to a 1-1 in the regular season in Moorhead on Oct. 21. 

All the scoring in that game came in a span of 8 minutes at the end of the first half. Freshman Emma Sheflo gave Concordia a 1-0 lead, when she took a pass from Hannah Mukhtar, raced down the right wing and then unleashed a hammer of a shot from the top of the penalty area that found the left corner of the net.

The goal at 36:06 was Sheflo's team-leading fifth of the season, and Mukhtar earned her first assist of the season.

The Wildcats would tie the game just before the halftime break. St. Kate's was able to quick-strike the CC defense when Amanda Elton delivered a pass to Ari Green after winning the ball in the middle of the field. Elton raced toward the goal, drew both of the Cobber central defenders and then slid a pass to a wide-open Natalie Pfleger, who 1-timed the pass from 7-yards out of the goal.

The equalizer at 43:12 would end the scoring on the day as both team's defenses stepped up in the second half.

Concordia held a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal, while St. Kate's had a 9-8 edge in total shots.

Cobber goalie Bre Nelson stopped two shots and Wildcat keeper Kate Praetz made five saves. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: How each team ranks in the MIAC for conference games only.

STAT STARS: Concordia's offense is led by the trio of Emma Sheflo, Sophia Robinson and Chloe Sollom. Sheflo and Robinson were tie for the team lead in goals in conference play with two. Sollom was tied for eighth in the MIAC in assists in league games with three. Sheflo and Robinson were also in the Top 20 of the MIAC in shots on goal. Sheflo was eighth with 21 and Robinson was 13th with 17. Sophomore Hannah Mukhtar has stepped into the spotlight in the last three games for CC. She has scored two game winners in the team's last three games including the winner on Monday at St. Ben's.      

Cobber goalie Bre Nelson played in seven of the team's 11 conference games and finished fifth in the MIAC in goals against average (0.87) and seventh in saves (35).   

Ari Green and Amanda Elton have been a 2-player highlight reel for St. Catherine. The duo was No.1 and No.2 in totals points and total points in league games and combined for 19 of the team's 29 goals in MIAC play. Green led the league in goals and points and was second in assists. She finished the regular season with 10 goals and six assists for 26 points. And just for good measure, she tied for the lead in the MIAC in game-winning strikes (4). Elton was second in goals and points with nine nuggets and 23 points. 
  
Wildcat keeper Kate Praetz played in all 11 MIAC games and was second in GAA (0.46) and 4th in saves (48). She has played every minute of every game for SCU.