DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's soccer team will compete in its fifth straight NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday and its sixth overall when it takes on No. 8 University of St. Thomas down in St. Paul.
 
Where:
South Field – St. Paul, Minn.
 
When:
First Round - Saturday
St. Scholastica at #8 St. Thomas – 11 a.m.
St. Norbert vs. Luther – 1:30 p.m.
Second Round - Sunday
Advancing Teams – 1 p.m.
 
Live Video: http://tommiesports.com/broadcast/ponj04
Live Stats vs. St. Thomas: http://tommiesports.com/sports/msoc/2016-17/boxscores/20161112_gk2j.xml
 
Social Media:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CSSMensoccer
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cssmensoccer
Facebook: www.facebook.com/css.saints
 
 
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 12-7-1, 8-0-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
 
Last Action: The Saints were able to navigate being a man down for 83 minutes and two men down for 26 minutes to force a 2-2 tie against Bridge Rival University of Wisconsin-Superior in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship game on Saturday … The automatic qualifier was then decided by penalty kicks and the Saints converted three kicks, while goalkeeper Corrado Rosato (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) made three saves in his only action of the day to give St. Scholastica the 3-2 shootout victory … Shawayne Folkes (Toronto, Ontario/Maxwell Heights) had a goal and an assist in the game and he was named the UMAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career … Sandy Davidson-Hunt (Kenora, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) played all of regulation and overtime and made 12 saves.
 
NCAA Heartbreak: This will be St. Scholastica's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance … Saturday will be the fourth time the Saints will play a team from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and the third time that it will be the MIAC regular season champion … CSS has lost four of its five NCAA Tournament games by one goal, with the lone exception being a 3-1 loss to the University of Chicago in 2014 on a snow-covered field down in Iowa … The Saints have lost twice in overtime – 2010 vs. Augsburg and 2013 vs. Gustavus Adolphus … The other two losses came at Loras College (Iowa) in 2012 where the heavily-favored Duhawks scored the game-winner in the final six minutes of regulation and last season at Macalester where the Scots scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
 
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 … Folkes became the 11^th player in program history to register at least 100 career points on Saturday.
 
Streak Extended: St. Scholastica's NCAA all-divisions record of 110 games without a loss in conference regular season play and conference tournament play will extend into the 2017 season … As will the NCAA record 70-game UMAC winning streak.
 
Lack of Scoring: St. Scholastica has managed to only score 48 goals this season, after becoming the first team in NCAA history to record at least 100 goals in three consecutive seasons from 2013-15. The 48 goals are the fewest since the 2007 season. 
 
Missing in Action: Due to their red cards on Saturday, midfielder Luke Buckton (Bath, England/Writhlington School) and defender Trygve Rennan (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) will be out for the weekend … Buckton was named a First Team All-UMAC performer on Tuesday and is an offensive playmaker that will be missed … Rennan has been solid in the center of CSS' backline this season.
 
Stopping PKs: Freshman 'keeper Corrado Rosato (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) has stopped a total of five penalty kicks this season … He made a stop against the University of Northwestern in a then one-goal game … He then made a stop against the UW-Superior in a game that was eventually postponed … Then he stopped three in the shootout on Saturday against UWS.

---

 
Opponent
#8 St. Thomas Tommies
Record: 16-1-3, 7-1-2 MIAC
 
The Tommies will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1995 season and their sixth overall … They earned their first outright MIAC regular season title in 25 years and defeated two of the other three teams at St. Thomas this weekend during the regular season … St. Thomas was unbeaten until a loss in the regular season finale at home against Augsburg College … The Tommies surrendered two goals in that loss for only the second time this season, with the other coming in an overtime victory at the University of Northwestern … St. Thomas avenged the Augsburg loss by defeating the Auggies 1-0 in overtime in the MIAC semifinals and then defeated Macalester 1-0 in the MIAC championship … The Tommies are difficult to score on as they rank third in NCAA Division III in team goals-against-average (0.34), while goalkeeper Aidan Hogan leads the country with a 0.10 goals-against-average and is ranked second with a  .958 save percentage … Senior defender Mark Heydt is the playmaker for the Tommies as he led the team with seven goals and eight assists for 22 points this season.
 
Series Record: St. Thomas leads 8-3-2 (Last Meeting: 3-0 UST – 10/16/16)
 
Series History: The Tommies defeated the Saints 3-0 at Saints Field on October 16 … Shae Bottum had a goal and an assist in the victory for the Tommies … All three victories for St. Scholastica in the series have come at St. Thomas, including the last two games …This will be the first postseason meeting between the two programs.

---

 
Other Matchup
Luther Norse
Record: 14-5-2, 5-3-0 IIAC
 
The Norse will be making their eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first since 2013 … Luther defeated Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) regular season champion Loras College 4-3 in the final to receive the conference's automatic qualifier … Senior defender Myles Norville was named the IIAC Defensive Player of the Year this week … Senior midfielders Nigel Nielsen and Lucas Beato were also named First Team All-IIAC … Nielsen led the team with six goals and Benjamin Keller led the squad with six assists and 14 points.
 
CSS Series Record: Luther leads 2-0-0 (Last Meeting: 2-0 Luther – 9/10/06)
 
CSS Series History: The Saints and Norse played in 2005 and 2006 in a home-and-home series with Luther coming out on top in both games.
 
St. Norbert Green Knights
Record: 16-3-1, 7-1-1 Midwest
 
The Green Knights will be making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday and their first since the 2006 season … St. Norbert defeated Knox College (Ill.), who defeated the Saints to open the season, in the Midwest Conference semifinals and then edged Grinnell College (Iowa) in the tournament championship to capture the league automatic qualifier … The Green Knights played at Saints Field in Duluth at the beginning of the season as part of the Advantage Emblem Cup and earned a win over then ranked No. 2 Loras … Ben Prange led the team with 12 goals, while Tyler Kassube had a team-high eight assists and 30 points … Goalkeeper Josh Koleske had 12 wins and a 0.92 goals-against-average.
 
CSS Series Record: St. Norbert leads 2-1-0 (Last Meeting: 4-1 SNC – 10/10/04)
 
CSS Series History: The Saints won the first matchup with the Green Knights in 1983, but St. Norbert defeated the Saints in back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004.