MIAC Semifinal Preview - #3 Carleton At #2 Concordia

MIAC SEMIFINALS: Carleton (11-4-3/7-1-3 MIAC) at  #2 Concordia (13-3-2/8-1-2 MIAC)

DATE: November 5, 2014
LOCATION: Moorhead, Minn. (Jake Christiansen Athletics Complex)
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 Stats: Cobber Primetime GameDay

2014 MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament

Nov. 4 (Tuesday)
MIAC Quarterfinals
No.6 seed Bethel 1 @ No.3 Seed Carleton 3 | Recap
No. 5 seed St. Thomas 0 @ No.4 seed St. Ben's 0 2OT (St. Thomas wins PK's 2-0) | Recap

Nov. 5 (Wednesday)
MIAC Semifinals
No.3 seed Carleton @ No.2 seed Concordia 2 p.m.
No.5 seed St. Thomas @ No.1 seed Augsburg 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 (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 has played in 19 conference playoff games and owns an 8-6-5 mark. The Cobbers have a 4-1 record in the five ties that were decided by a penalty kick shootout. CC has won the tournament title four times in the past eight years (2012, 2010, 2007, 2006).
- Concordia is 1-1-3 against Carleton in MIAC playoffs and is 2-1 in penalty kick games vs. the Knights. The teams have met twice at Concordia in the playoffs and both times the game has gone to a penalty kick shootout. The teams have also met twice in the semifinals (2009, 2011) with the Cobbers winning in 1-0 in regulation in 2011 and Carleton winning in PK's in 2009.
- Carleton is making its sixth trip to the MIAC playoffs and all six times they have faced Concordia. They are returning to the conference postseason after a two-year break. The Knights have a 6-1-3 mark in the league playoffs and are 1-2 in games decided by penalty kicks.  
- The Cobbers enter the playoffs unbeaten in their last three games. One of the contests was a 0-0 double OT tie with Carleton. CC then went on to beat Macalester 1-0 and St. Ben's 2-1 to earn the No.2 seed in the playoffs.
- Carleton enters today's game on the heels of a 3-1 win over Bethel in the MIAC quarterfinals. The Knights are unbeaten in their last five games and have only lost once since the start of October.

Cobbers vs. Carleton Series History:

Series started: 1984

Carleton leads overall series: 22-14-5

Series Synopsis: These two teams have battled in one of the closest series in conference history in the past several seasons. They have hooked up in the conference playoffs in five of the past eight years with three of those games being decided in penalty kicks. Concordia has a slight edge in the series in the past 10 years. The Cobbers are 6-4-5 against the Knights since 2005. The Cobbers had a five-game unbeaten streak at home come to an end last season...to make the series records even closer, the two teams are dead even in the past 16 games played in Moorhead with each team holding a 7-7-2 record.       
      

Earlier This Year: Carleton 0 at Concordia 0 2OT | Pictures
The teams are quite familiar with each other, having played their regular-season game less than two weeks ago. Concordia hosted Carleton in the final home game of the regular season on Oct. 25 and the two teams played to a 0-0 double overtime tie. The single point in the standings clinched a playoff spot for both teams.

Concordia wound up outshooting Carleton 13-6 in total shots and 6-4 in shots on goal for the game but it was the Knights who had the closest chances. Carleton had a pair of shots stopped by Cobber defenders standing on the post for corner kicks. The Knights also had a goal disallowed after an attacker interfered with CC goalie Elizabeth Bitzan as Bitzan tried to play the ball by the goal.

The game was played primarily in the middle of the field and most chances were created by balls being played forward from the skilled passing of both midfield corps.

Stat Central:

- 2014 Concordia Statistics

- 2014 Carleton Statistics

- 2014 MIAC Statistics

- 2014 Concordia NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

- 2014 Carleton NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

Penalty Kicks - 12 Quick Hits To Help You Get Ready To Finish From The PK Spot:
1. Concordia has played in seven overtime games this year and are 5-0-2 in those contests. Of those seven OT games, six have come on Saturday and four went to double overtime .

2. Carleton has played four overtime games this season. They are 0-1-3 in those extra session contests and all four have gone to a second overtime period.

3. Concordia is 7-1-1 at home this season and 3-1 in games played on a Wednesday. The Knights are 4-2-2 on the road and 1-1-2 in games played on Wednesday. Carleton's only loss since October came on a Wednesday (home vs. Macalester 2-1).

4. The Cobbers have outscored their opponents 10-4 in the first half but only 10-8 in the second half of play. They hold a 5-0 edge in overtime periods.

5. Carleton has outscored its opponents 13-8 in the first half and 16-4 in the second period. They have been outscored 1-0 in their four overtime games. 

6. Concordia is 12-0-1 when they score the first goal of the game. Carleton is 10-0-0 when they score the first goal of the game. 

7. Concordia is 7-0-1 when leading at the half. Carleton is 6-0-0 when leading after the first period.

8. Concordia is 1-1-0 when they trail at the half. Carleton is 2-3-0 when they are behind after 45 minutes of play.

9. Concordia is 1-2 when they give up the first goal of the game. Carleton 2-3 when they conceded the opening score of the contest.

10. Concordia have been awarded only one penalty kick this season and scored on the lone spot kick. The Cobbers have been whistled for two penalty kicks and opposing teams are 1-for-2 in those chances. Carleton has taken one penalty kick and allowed one penalty kick. Both the Knights and their opponents are 1-for-1 on those kicks.

11. Concordia scored their first goal directly from a corner kick in overtime against St. Ben's on Saturday. The Cobbers had taken 87 corners before finally converting on their 88th. 

12. Concordia has been shown seven yellow cards this season as opposed to only one booking for the Knights. Neither team has been given a red card this year. The last red card for the Cobbers came in 2010 while the last sending off for the Knights was in 2012. 

Scouting the Knights:
Carleton enters the semifinal game as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Knights are unbeaten in their last five games and have only lost once since te calendar turned over to the month of October. During that stretch they are 6-2-1.

Carleton is led by the midfield-forward tandem of Ava Lewis and Ellie Wilson. Lewis leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and four assists for 24 points. She has also put up a team-high 47 shots. Lewis had a streak at the start of October where she scored a single goal in four straight games and is coming off a two-goal performance in the MIAC quarterfinals. Wilson has seven goals and four assists for 18 points. She scored a pair of goals in the regular-season finale against St. Olaf and had the team's third goal on Tuesday vs. Bethel. Both players have three game-winning goals as the tandem has combined for six of the team's 11 game winners.

The calling card for the Knights has been their defense. Carleton led the MIAC in goals allowed and goals against average in conference play. The Knights only conceded six goals in their 11 league games and had seven shutouts. They had a stingy 0.51 goals against average in the MIAC. Junior goalie Mikayla Coulombe enters Wednesday with a 0.62 overall goals against average and has nine shutouts on the season.          

Cobber SID Pick To Click:

#2 Marta Prosinski, Sr., M/#6 Laura Prosinski, Sr., M
The key to the game for Concordia on Wednesday will be in the midfield. There is a reason these two teams have been at the top of the MIAC for so long and have met in the playoffs five previous times - the play of the midfield. Like every top-quality race car, a soccer team is only as good as its engine. And the engine for soccer comes from the play of the midfield.

The Prosinski twins have been driving the Cobber offense and shutting down the opposing team's play in the midfield for four years. Wednesday's semifinal game will have to be another masterpiece as they square off against another top-flight midfield group. The Knights are led by sophomore midfielder Ava Lewis. Lewis leads Carleton in scoring with 10 goals and four assists. She had the team's first two goals in their quarterfinal win vs. Bethel. 

The semifinal game should come down to whichever midfield can gain possession of the ball quickly and then start the team's offense into attack without turning the ball over in the middle third of the field.