Men's Soccer 10/31/06 -- MIAC Playoff Semifinals -- Gustavus 1, Augsburg 0

BOXSCORE

ST. PETER, Minn. (10/31/06) -- Augsburg College's hopes for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer postseason playoff championship came to an end on Tuesday afternoon, as Gustavus Adolphus College claimed a 1-0 win in a playoff semifinal at Gustavus.

Ryan Beduhn (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn./Tech HS) scored three minutes into the second half for the Gusties, playing the ball into the net off an end-line feed by Mike Butterworth (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service HS) for the lone goal of the game.

Augsburg finished its season at 13-3-3 overall with the loss.

No. 2-seed Gustavus (16-2-1) will host No. 4 seed Hamline (12-4-2), which upset top-seed St. John's 1-0 in the other semifinal, on Saturday in the conference playoff championship game. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the national tournament.

"Gustavus was better on the day. Now we just need them to defeat Hamline on Saturday, and Wartburg to win the IIAC (Iowa Conference) tournament and we will have a better than average chance of getting selected to the NCAA tournament," Holker said. "We will train the rest of the week and hope for some positive news Sunday night."

It was the second 1-0 win for Gustavus over Augsburg in the span of a week. Gustavus also claimed a 1-0, overtime victory at Augsburg last Wednesday.

The Gusties had 14 shots on goal in the first half and controlled most of the offensive play, however Augsburg goalkeeper Pascaul Venter (So., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) recorded eight saves and the Auggies turned away every chance.

"Pascaul made some good saves, but he will tell you that his distribution in this match was not up to normal standard. However, he certainly deserves recognition for his accomplishments this season," Holker said.

Gustavus came out in the second half and took a 1-0 lead when Beduhn scored in the 48th minute. Butterworth hustled after the ball, which was on the baseline, and kept it from going out of bounds. He then passed it across the face of the net to Beduhn, who booted the ball into the top corner of the net for a goal.

The Gusties had a multitude of scoring opportunities throughout the game, but Venter played exceptionally well in net to keep the Auggies in the game. Gustavus got one of its best opportunities in the 53rd minute when Alex Groth (Sr., Waupaca, Wis.) made a great effort to beat a couple of Augsburg defenders and got a pass off to Jack Underwood (Jr., Fergus Falls, Minn.). Underwood, who received the pass in front of the net, kicked a hard shot on net, however Venter made a terrific jumping save. The Auggies turned up the offensive pressure near the end of the match, but keeper Tyler Garry (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) and the Gusties held on for the 1-0 victory.

Beduhn led all players with six shots in the game, while Jeffrey Johnson (Jr., Tonka Bay, Minn.) and Groth each had three shots. Venter stopped 11 shots in the game, while his counterpart, Garry, saved two shots, both of which came in the second half. The Gusties held a 20-4 advantage in shots and a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Holker paid compliments to several Auggie players for outstanding performances in the semifinal contest:

"Alec Rabine (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) was our best player. He maintained possession for us and did well to win it back quickly when it was lost. Vinnie Brooks * (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS) had a great match, similar to the one he played against Gustavus last week. If the NCAA committee choses not to select Augsburg, he will feel definitely feel good about his last collegiate match.

"Josh Stepaniak (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) did some very positive things today. His numbers may not speak to his quality at this point in the season, but he is going to be a great player at Augsburg."