DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's soccer team will square off with Bridge Rival University of Wisconsin-Superior for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship on Saturday and for a spot in next week's NCAA Division III Tournament.
Where:
Saints Field – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Saturday – 1 p.m.
Live Video: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
Live Stats: http://saintscholastica.statcrew.com/mncaas/2016/current/live.html
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSMensoccer
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 12-7-0, 8-0-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints edged Martin Luther College 1-0 on Wednesday in the UMAC Tournament semifinals …
Armin Bobaric (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) scored the game winner in the 74
th minute off a
Luke Buckton (Bath, England/Writhlington School) corner kick … The Saints outshot the Knights 44-8, including 16-4 on goal …
Sandy Davidson-Hunt (Kenora, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) made all four saves for his second shutout in seven days.
Postseason Success: The Saints have captured the UMAC Tournament title each of the last four seasons, defeating UWS last year and the University of Minnesota Morris the previous three seasons … St. Scholastica last lost a UMAC Championship game to Minnesota Morris in 2008 at home on a snowy day … Morris also captured the tournament title in 2011 at Saints Field, but that was in penalty kicks, so that was officially a tie … The Saints have won nine UMAC Tournament titles overall.
Records Check: Kyle Farrar (London, England/Kelsey Park Sports College) is four assists shy of becoming the first player in NCAA Division III history to have at least 70 goals and 50 assists …
Shawayne Folkes (Toronto, Ontario/Maxwell Heights) is three points shy of being the 11
th player in program history to register 100 career points.
The Streak is Alive: St. Scholastica's NCAA all-divisions record of 109 games without a loss in conference regular season play and conference tournament play will be on the line Saturday … Its NCAA record 69-game UMAC winning streak is also on the line.
Lack of Scoring: The Saints have managed to score only one goal in the last three home games … After their loss to Superior, it was the first time the Saints were shut out in back-to-back home games since the 2000 season … After scoring over 100 goals the previous three seasons, the Saints have only netted 46 goals this season, the lowest scoring output since the 2008 season.
Who to Watch: Jonny Harkin (Birmingham, England/St. Benedicts School) had a big championship game against the Yellowjackets last year, scoring a pair of goals and assisting another … Buckton continues to make things happen offensively, leading the team with 29 points and recording at least one point in each of the last three games … Buckton also scored twice when the Saints played the Yellowjackets in Superior on October 11 … Farrar will attract the attention of UWS defenders as he did not play in the UWS victory two weeks ago, but had a goal when they played in Superior.
Upcoming Opponents
UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Record: 13-7-0, 7-1-0 UMAC
The Yellowjackets enter Saturday's championship game on a roll, winners in their last eight contests … UWS lost its first six games of the season, but its only loss since then was a 3-1 defeat by the Saints over in Superior on October 11 … In Wednesday's semifinal victory over the University of Northwestern, the 'jackets trailed 1-0 at the half, but poured it on in the second half thanks to the Eagles being a man down and went on to win 5-1 … Superior is led offensively by Jon Bucklew, who leads the conference with 14 goals and 35 points … Eric Watson is also right there with 12 goals … Ryan Wisdom is tied for the conference lead with 12 assists … In goal, Ben Wilhelm leads the conference with a 0.96 goals-against-average and is third with a .778 save percentage.
Series Record: CSS leads 13-5-3
(Last Meeting: 2-0 UWS – 10/23/16)
Series History: The Yellowjackets defeated St. Scholastica at Saints Field 2-0 only two Sundays ago in a non-conference game … It was the first time the two teams played at Saints Field since 2009 … UWS has not lost on Saints Field since it has been converted to turf … It was also the first multi-goal victory for UWS over the Saints … The same two teams played for the UMAC Tournament championship last year at Ordean Stadium with the Saints coming out on top 5-0, but the Yellowjackets played a man down for the final 67 minutes.
Looking Ahead: The winner will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament … The tournament field will be announced on Monday at noon on NCAA.com.
