Men's Soccer 9/20/06 -- Augsburg 3, St. Scholastica 0

BOXSCORE

DULUTH, Minn. (9/20/06) -- Claiming its eighth straight shutout this season and 10th dating to last year, the Augsburg College men's soccer team remained unbeaten with a 3-0 victory over the College of St. Scholastica in a nonconference contest on Wednesday evening at Duluth Public Schools Stadium.

Augsburg scored all three of its goals in the first 16 minutes of play to improve to 7-0-1 overall, while St. Scholastica fell to 2-3-0 on the season.

"Scoring an early goal helps anyone's cause, but to get three in the first 15 minutes was a relief, as we were confident we would not concede that many in the next 75 minutes," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker.

Augsburg has outscored its opponents by an 18-0 margin this season. Augsburg's shutout streak has now reached 952 minutes -- 10 straight shutouts and 12 minutes of an 11th game dating to last year.

Augsburg is now one of only three schools nationally in NCAA Division III men's soccer to have not given up a goal so far this season, according to the latest NCAA statistics. The other schools are Ithaca (N.Y., 4-0-1 overall, 11-0 scoring margin) and Clark (Mass., 5-0-1 overall, 9-0 scoring margin). The other school that entered this week's play without giving up a goal, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.), gave up its first goal of the season on Wednesday (6-0-0 overall, 18-1 scoring margin).

Ryan Kitzman * (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS) opened the scoring for Augsburg just 1:38 into the game, scoring off a free kick. Alex Hildebrandt (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) then scored his second goal of the season at the 14:14 mark, sending in a free kick pass from Kitzman and Nick Manders (Jr., De Pere, Wis./West De Pere HS).

"Alex Hildebrandt was a problem in the final third today," Holker said. "He caused Kitzman's goal with a hard run that froze the CSS goalkeeper, and then finished another set piece that Kitzy put on the head of Nick Manders. After not getting a set piece goal against Hamline, we were pleased to correct some of our issues in that area with two on the night."

Just 87 seconds after Hildebrandt's goal, Andrew Seidel (So., Woodbury, Minn.) completed the scoring for the Auggies, scoring an unassisted marker off a breakaway.

"We tried Andy Seidel up front as we protected Kelsey Duerr's (Fr., Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS) status," Holker said. "He did well, scoring the third goal on a great individual effort. You can find him either up front or out wide against Carleton and St. John's this weekend -- we're not sure yet."

The Auggies outshot St. Scholastica by a 15-11 margin, with Augsburg goalkeeper Pascaul Venter (So., Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS) making four to record his seventh shutout of the season and eighth of his career. Adam Whitehead collected five saves for St. Scholastica.

"Pascaul had to come up with two important saves in the first half, as we were extremely lethargic in our defending tonight. We allowed way too many shots, even when facing an opponent that played three up front," Holker said.

The Auggies return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend with two important games on the road. On Saturday (9/23) at 1 p.m., the Auggies travel to Northfield, Minn., to face Carleton, and on Sunday (9/24) at 3 p.m., the Auggies travel to Collegeville, Minn., to face St. John's.

"Carleton will be an important test, as any MIAC game is -- on the road, huge field, and Bobby Phillips," Holker said.