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MIAC MEN'S SOCCER PLAYOFF PAGE

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) headed home a service from Matt Bowman (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) in the 26th minute, as Augsburg College advanced to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer playoff championship game with a 1-0 win over Carleton College in a semifinal contest on Tuesday evening at Edor Nelson Field.

With the win, Augsburg (14-4-1 overall) advances to the MIAC playoff championship game for the second time since the four-team playoffs were started by the MIAC in 2003. Augsburg, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will host No. 4-seed Concordia-Moorhead (13-5-1), which upset top-seed Macalester 3-1 on Tuesday in St. Paul.

The championship game will be played on Friday (11/5) at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field, with the winner earning the MIAC's automatic bid to the 60-team NCAA Division III national tournament. The game will feature a live video webcast and live statistics on Augsburg's GameCentral portal.

"Hosting the semifinal was nice," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker. "Hosting the final will be as good an environment as you can get in college soccer."

Augsburg outshot No. 3-seed Carleton (11-7-1) by a 10-7 margin and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks in the game.

The lone goal of the game came at the 25:53 mark, when Bowman put a service into the box from the left side. Gilmer 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.

"Our goal came from a set piece -- and clearly we need to have those at this time of the year. Gilmer rose to the occasion once again getting on the end of a perfect service from Matt Bowman. Chad can do it all; he is strong in the back, incredible in the air, and really ambitious around the goal when he gets forward," Holker said. "We were sharp in the first half and we did what we needed to do to hold on to the result. The game was choppy all around -- not by fouls, but just by the ball not being settled and pinged around the way the two teams normally do."

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.

"Will was in firm control in the frame," Holker said. "Carleton tested him twice -- once when Wes Elfman (SR, Madison, Wis./Edgewood HS) turned the corner and Morlock snatched the cross and the other from a deceptive combination and strike from 20 yards out on top of the box -- both in the first half. His distribution was good and important for us to kill the game at the end."

Pete Semmer (SR, Del Mar, Calif./Bishop's School) had one save in goal for Carleton. Ryan Cammarota (JR, Neenah, Wis.) and Elfman had two shots each for the Knights.

"Carleton is a tremendous team," Holker said. "They play good soccer and have incredible individual players. Year after year, they do it the right way. They've been the standard for the rest of us to try and achieve."