Women's Soccer 10/24/07 -- Augsburg 1, St. Benedict 0
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ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (10/24/07) -- Katie Medd (Jr., Mankato, Minn./East HS) scored the lone goal of the game in the 76th minute, and goalkepper Maggie DeGroot * (Jr., Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West HS) tied the Augsburg College record for career shutouts with 26, as the Auggies scored a 1-0 victory over the host College of St. Benedict in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer game on Wednesday afternoon.
Medd scored her third goal of the season on an assist from Felicia Faison (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) in the 76th minute.
DeGroot collected three saves in goal for her eighth shutout of the season and 26th of her career. She is now tied with Beth Petrik (1995-98) for the school's career shutout record.
With the victory, Augsburg (9-6-3 overall, 7-3-1 MIAC) virtually clinches a spot in the four-team MIAC postseason playoffs for the fourth straight season. Augsburg is currently tied with Macalester (10-5-1 overall, 7-3-1 MIAC) for third place in the MIAC standings with 15 league points, as both have completed their conference seasons. Augsburg topped Macalester 1-0 on Oct. 3, meaning if the two teams are alone in either third or fourth place, Augsburg would have the higher seed based on MIAC tiebreaker criteria.
The lone team that can either tie or surpass Augsburg and Macalester in the league standings is Carleton (12-4-0 overall, 6-3-0 MIAC), which has two league games remaining -- at St. Catherine (5-8-3 overall, 0-7-2 MIAC) on Thursday and at home against St. Olaf (2-12-3 overall, 2-6-2 MIAC) on Saturday. Should Carleton, with 12 points, win both games, it would have 16 points, surpassing Augsburg and Macalester and leaving those two teams in a tie for fourth place. If Carleton wins one game and ties another, the Knights would be tied with the Scots and Auggies with 15 points, and the tiebreaker criteria would go to a point system -- in which, as it stands now, Augsburg would have an advantage for one of the two available spots.
Concordia-Moorhead (14-2-1 overall, 9-0-1 MIAC, 19 points) and St. Benedict (13-4-0 overall, 8-2-0 MIAC, 16 points) have already clinched spots in the MIAC postseason playoffs, and the two teams meet on Saturday at 1 p.m. in their regular-season finale.
The MIAC playoff semifinals will be held next Tuesday (10/30), with the No. 4 seed traveling to face the regular-season champion, and the No. 3 seed playing at the No. 2 seed.
"I'm proud of the team. We've had some difficulties this year, so to be able to keep it together and stay among the best teams in the MIAC is a great testament to the character of our team," said Augsburg head coach Mike Navarre. "The MIAC is filled with solid teams, so to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season is a great accomplishment for our program. At this point, we have to get healthy and start preparing for Tuesday. Although making the playoffs is rewarding, I know that our players are looking to do more."
