AUGSBURG GAMECENTRAL PORTAL
(LIVE VIDEO WEBCAST/LIVE STATISTICS)

GAME BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and Josh Sweeney (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) scored goals against a howling wind in the second half on Tuesday evening, as Augsburg College claimed a 2-0 win over visiting St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer contest at Edor Nelson Field.

Playing against a vicious wind that reached reported gusts of more than 50 mph in the second half, Gilmer broke a scoreless tie by connecting on a one-timer following a free kick by Peter Osborn (JR, Eagan, Minn./Eastview HS) in the 52nd minute.

"Gilmer's goal from Osborn's set piece was tremendous -- served low and hard and smashed into the upper corner thanks to the timing of Chad's run. It was a well-constructed goal," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker.

Sweeney capped the scoring for Augsburg (12-4-1 overall, 6-2-1 MIAC) in the closing seconds of the game, as he scored after a St. Mary's (2-15-0 overall, 0-9-0 MIAC) corner kick was cleared by Gilmer. With the St. Mary's goalkeeper playing forward, Sweeney was able to sprint the length of the field and deposit the ball into an open net.

"Sweeney's goal completed the Jaguar connection, as he took two more touches off of Chad's great clearing tackle and calmly recorded the empty-netter," Holker said.

With the wind at their backs, the Auggies were unable to score in the first half, despite claiming a 13-6 advantage in shots in the period. In the game, the Auggies outshot the Cardinals by a 22-12 margin, and had nine corner kicks to the Cardinals' five.

Will Morlock (FY, Grand Haven, Mich.) claimed his fifth shutout of the season in goal for Augsburg with four saves. St. Mary's goalkeeper Chris Williams (JR, Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick HS) had eight saves in a losing effort.

"We were fortunate not to be down heading into the locker room thanks to Morlock's save on Bobby Gas' (JR, Lake Zurich, Ill./Carmel HS) free attempt," Holker said. "Certainly our effort in the first half was not reflective of the type of group we are, and the break did help us realize we could play much better, no matter what the conditions were."

With the victory, Augsburg vaults into a three-way tie for second place in the MIAC standings with Concordia-Moorhead and Carleton, all with 19 league points, just two points behind league-leader Macalester's 21. Gustavus sits in fifth place with 18 league points. Teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie.

The four spots available in the MIAC's postseason playoffs will be decided with the final round of games in the regular season. On Friday (10/29), Augsburg hosts Gustavus at 7 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field, and Macalester hosts Hamline. On Saturday (10/30), Carleton hosts St. Olaf at 1 p.m., Concordia plays at St. John's at 3 p.m., and St. Thomas plays at St. Mary's at 7 p.m.

"In the past few games, we have done very well to survive our opponents' late pressure. Instead of making the game boring however, we seem to create some excitement by providing additional chances," Holker said. "We won't be able to get away with that on Friday. It's a playoff game. Win or tie and we advance, lose and our season is over."