MIAC MEN'S SOCCER PLAYOFF PAGE

AUGSBURG GAMECENTRAL PORTAL
(LIVE VIDEO WEBCAST/LIVE STATISTICS)

GAME NOTES BELOW

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College will host Concordia College-Moorhead in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer playoff championship game on Friday (11/5) at 7 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg (14-4-1 overall), the No. 2 seed in the four-team field, will host No. 4-seed Concordia (13-5-1 overall), which upset top-seed Macalester 3-1 in a semifinal game on Tuesday. Augsburg advanced to the final with a 1-0 win over No. 2-seed Carleton on Tuesday. The winner of Friday's championship game will receive the MIAC's automatic bid to the 60-team NCAA Division III national playoffs.

Since the game is an MIAC playoff contest, ALL patrons, including Augsburg students, faculty and staff, will have to pay admission -- $7 for adults, $3 for students. No Augsburg passes will be accepted (the only passes accepted are MIAC-issued passes). Gates will open at 5:30 p.m.

Friday's game will be a "Maroon Out" game for Augsburg students. The first 200 Augsburg students (with student ID) will receive free admission, courtesy of the Augsburg athletic department.

The Augsburg-Concordia game on Friday will feature a live video webcast with live statistics on Augsburg's GameCentral portal.

Also, since it is an Augsburg For Adults (Weekend College) weekend, parking options will be limited on the Augsburg campus. Parking in ALL campus lots will be limited to Augsburg parking permit-holders when classes are in session, including Friday evening. NO ATHLETIC SPECTATOR PARKING WILL BE ALLOWED IN ANY AUGSBURG PARKING LOTS, including "Lot L," the large parking lot adjacent to Edor Nelson Field and Si Melby Hall, during that time. Lot L will be staffed and individuals without proper permits will be turned away. Lots will also be patrolled and non-permit-holders will be ticketed and/or towed at owner's expense.

Spectators are encouraged to park in the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview "Yellow Ramp" (click for map). The entrance is located off of 23rd Avenue South, north of Riverside Avenue and behind the HealthPartners clinic -- roughly a two-block walk to the Augsburg athletic facilities. Hourly rates for the Yellow Ramp: $2 for 0-to-1/2 hour; $3 for 1/2-to-1 hour; $4 for 1-to-1 1/2 hours; $5 for 1 1/2-to-2 1/2 hours; $6 for 2 1/2-to-3 1/2 hours; $7 for 3 1/2-to-5 hours; $8 for 5-to-6 hours; $9 for 6-to-7 hours; $10 for 7-plus hours.

There is also on-street parking available on the streets around Murphy Square Park in the center of campus, as well as metered parking (enforced 24 hours a day) on Riverside Avenue. Please note that all on-street parking has time limits or is metered; please be aware of the time limits where you park.

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GAME NOTES

THE GAME -- Augsburg is hosting the MIAC men's soccer playoff championship game for the first time since the conference started its four-team playoff in 2003. The conference playoff champion receives the automatic bid to the 60-team NCAA Division III national tournament.

MIAC PLAYOFFS -- Augsburg is making its third appearance in the MIAC playoffs and second appearance in the conference title game, while Concordia is making its first MIAC postseason playoff appearance this season. In its MIAC playoff appearances, Augsburg is now 2-1-1:
2006 -- Gustavus 1, Augsburg 0
2008 -- Augsburg 3, Gustavus 0; Augsburg 0, Carleton 0 (2OT, Carleton 5-3 on PKs)
2010 -- Augsburg 1, Carleton 0

LAST MEETING -- On Oct. 9, Concordia-Moorhead scored a 4-3 win over Augsburg in Moorhead, the last loss for Augsburg before it started its current six-game winning streak. Ahmed Gobana (JR, Burnsville, Minn.) scored two second-half goals for the Auggies, but Concordia gained the lead with 8:10 remaining in regulation, as Kyle Quimby scored from Riley McGlynn.

Gobana scored from Matt Bowman (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) in the 56th minute for Augsburg, and scored again, assisted by goalkeeper Will Morlock (FY, Grand Haven, Mich.) in the 63rd minute. Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) then tied the game with a goal from Owen Byrnes (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) in the 69th minute.

Philip Brubaker scored two goals for the Cobbers, and McGlynn had a goal and three assists. Augsburg outshot Concordia by a 14-11 margin, but Cobber goalkeeper Peter Runquist collected six saves for the win. Morlock had one save for Augsburg.

PLAYOFF VICTORIES -- Augsburg reached the MIAC playoff championship with a 1-0 win over Carleton on Tuesday night at Edor Nelson Field. The lone goal of the game came at the 25:53 mark, when Matt Bowman (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) put a free kick service into the box from the left side. Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) leaped and headed the ball past the Carleton goalie for his team-leading eighth goal of the season, with Bowman earning his sixth assist, tying him for the team lead in that category.

No. 2-seed Augsburg outshot No. 3-seed Carleton by a 10-7 margin and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks in the game. Augsburg goalkeeper Will Morlock (FY, Grand Haven, Mich.) claimed four saves in goal for his seventh shutout of the season and third in a row. Augsburg will carry an opponent goalless streak of 342:34 into the conference championship game.

No. 4-seed Concordia advanced to Friday's championship game with a 3-1 upset of top-seed Macalester on Tuesday in St. Paul. Riley McGlynn scored just 68 seconds into the game, and following an “own goal” in the 13th minute, the Cobbers took a 3-0 lead in the 65th minute, with Kyle Kazemi scoring. The Cobbers gave up a goal in the closing minute to complete the scoring. Concordia was outshot by a 23-11 margin in the game and had a 13-2 disadvantage in corner kicks, but Cobber goalkeeper Peter Runquist came up with six saves for the win. McGlynn has been the dominant scorer for the Cobbers this season, with 14 goals and 10 assists for 38 points.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT BERTH AT STAKE -- The winner of Friday's MIAC playoff championship game will receive the MIAC's automatic (“Pool A”) bid to the 60-team NCAA Division III national tournament. Of the 60 teams invited to the tournament, 41 are “Pool A” teams from automatic qualifying conferences, two are “Pool B” teams from non-automatic qualifying conferences, and 17 are “Pool C” at-large teams.

In the latest NCAA Division III rankings released on Wednesday, Augsburg remains in the No. 3 spot in the North Region, the highest-ranked MIAC team in the regional rankings, ahead of No. 4 Macalester. Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Wisconsin-Whitewater -- teams from the WIAC, a “Pool B” conference -- are the No. 1 and 2 teams, respectively, in the North Region rankings, with St. Scholastica at No. 5, Loras (Iowa) at No. 6 and Dubuque (Iowa) at No. 7.

If Augsburg wins on Friday, the national tournament berth is assured, but if the Auggies lose, it may still merit strong consideration for one of the “Pool C” at-large bids. Augsburg received one of the at-large bids in their last national tournament appearance in 2008.

The national tournament bracket will be announced on Monday (11/8) at 1 p.m. (Central) on a live webcast on the NCAA.com website.

DEUCES ARE WILD -- Augsburg entered this year's four-team MIAC tournament as the No. 2 seed, and if history is any indication, that seed may bode well for the Auggies. The No. 2 seed has fared well in the MIAC tournament since it was started in 2003. In the seven conference tournaments prior to this year, the No. 2 seed has emerged as the champion four times -- 2003 (Gustavus), 2006 (Gustavus), 2007 (Gustavus) and 2009 (Macalester). The other three times, the No. 2 seed failed to make the final -- 2004 (St. Olaf), 2005 (Gustavus) and 2008 (Gustavus).

FOURTH DOUBLE-DIGIT SEASON IN FIVE YEARS -- Under head coach Greg Holker, Augsburg has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the MIAC. At 14-4-1, it is the fourth time in the last five seasons that Augsburg has had a double-digit win campaign -- the best run of success since a stretch of eight straight double-digit-win seasons from 1973 to 1980, which included MIAC titles in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1980. Augsburg's 7-2-1 MIAC record is its best since the team's NCAA playoff season of 2008, and Augsburg's second-place MIAC finish is its best since the conference title season of 1980.

HOME COOKING IN THE CAGE -- Augsburg enters Friday's game with a 8-0-1 record in “The Cage,” the friendly moniker for Edor Nelson Field -- the third unbeaten home record in school history and now tied for the most home wins in a single season in Augsburg history. Augsburg went 7-0-1 at home in 1978 and 3-0-2 in 1972. It's the third time in the last five years that Augsburg has had at least seven home wins -- Augsburg went 7-3-0 in 2007 and had a school-record eight home wins (8-2-0) in 2006. In head coach Greg Holker's seven seasons, Augsburg is now 41-16-5 (.702) at home.

BOWMAN BOUNCES BACK -- Two years ago, Augsburg men's soccer midfielder Matt Bowman (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) nearly died on the Edor Nelson Field surface. Now, he's healthy and has a chance to win an MIAC playoff championship on the same playing surface. In a preseason scrimmage in August 2008, Bowman collapsed on the field and nearly died. He was diagnosed with a form of anomalous coronary artery heart defect -- a very rare condition that usually kills 80 percent of its victims before it is diagnosed. In layman's terms, one of Bowman's arteries was located in the wrong place since his birth.

Bowman was forced to have a difficult open-heart surgery at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital on Sept. 12, 2008, to correct the ailment, and missed the entire 2008 season. He returned to the Auggie lineup in 2009 and played in all 17 games, starting 14, playing 975 of the team's 1,573 minutes (62 percent) and contributing a goal and three assists.

This year, Bowman has played in 918 of the team's 1,742 minutes (52.7 percent), appearing in all 19 games (15 starts), with one goal and six assists, tied for the team lead in that category. He had the assist on Augsburg's lone goal in the 1-0 win over Carleton in the MIAC playoffs on Tuesday night, serving a free kick that teammate Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) headed home for the score.

GILMER HAVING A SOLID SEASON -- Sophomore Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS), one of the most versatile players in the MIAC, is building a resume that could see him become the third Augsburg player to earn All-American honors since 2006 and first-ever Auggie to earn MIAC Player of the Year honors.

Listed as a forward, Gilmer has also seen time in both defensive and midfield positions, and he leads the team with eight goals and three assists for 19 points, including four game-winning goals. Gilmer scored the lone goal of the game in Augsburg's 1-0 playoff semifinal win over Carleton on Tuesday. Gilmer has seen action in 1,409 minutes this season -- 80.9 percent of the team's 1,742 minutes this year -- which ranks him second on the team in minutes played. This season, Augsburg is now 8-1-1 in games in which he has either a goal or assist.

TRANSFERS PAYING BIG DIVIDENDS -- Forward Benjamin Wexler (SR, Minnetonka, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS) joined the Auggies this season after playing his first three years at Division I Providence (R.I.). So far, the transfer has paid big dividends for the Auggies. In 17 games, Wexler stands second on the team in scoring with six goals and one assist for 13 points, including a team-best four game-winning goals.

Wexler is one of three transfers on the Auggie roster, joining defender Tyler Heaps (SO, St. Paul, Minn./DeLaSalle HS), who transferred from North Park (Ill.), and midfielder Josh Sweeney (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS), who transferred from Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Sweeney has scored four goals with two assist for 10 points in 17 games, while Heaps has two assists in 17 games.

LOYD GEARING UP FOR ANOTHER ALL-MIAC SEASON -- Peter Loyd (JR, Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) has been one of the reliable anchors of Augsburg's defense, which has allowed just 13 goals (0.67 team goals-against-average) all season. Loyd earned All-MIAC first-team honors last year, after earning All-MIAC honorable-mention honors his first year, and he is in line to repeat his all-conference honor this season. Playing in a team-high 1,564 minutes (89.8 percent of Augsburg's 1,742 team minutes), Loyd has two goals this season. In his career, Loyd has started 58 of his 59 games, with five goals and an assist.

NEW GOALKEEPERS IMPRESSIVE -- The biggest question mark entering this season was in the goalkeeping department, where head coach Greg Holker forecasted that two first-year players would see the bulk of playing time. So far, those two first-year players -- Clayton Lynch (FY, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier HS) and Will Morlock (FY, Grand Haven, Mich.) -- have played up to their expectations. Morlock has seen action in 11 games with 26 saves, a 0.79 goals-against-average, a 7-3-1 record and sieven shutouts, while Lynch has seen action in eight games with 18 saves, a 0.50 GAA, a 7-1-0 record and five shutouts.

Both have been tested in big games recently, as Lynch was in goal for the Auggies' 2-1 win at Carleton on Oct. 16, and Morlock was in goal for the last two wins of the regular season, including the 1-0 win over Gustavus last Friday. Morlock also gained the win in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Carleton in the MIAC playoff semifinals, with four saves.