DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – For the fourth straight year, it will be the St. Scholastica men's soccer team and the University of Wisconsin-Superior going head-to-head for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship on Saturday. However, for the first time, the action will take place in Superior.
Where:
NBC Spartan Sports Complex – Superior, Wis.
When:
Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
UMAC Tournament Page: https://umacathletics.com/tournaments/?id=123
Live Video: http://www.ifan.tv/
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/uwsuper/msoc/
FAN BUS: Hey Saints fans, there will be fan bus departing from the Burns Wellness Commons at 3:45 p.m. Saturday. It will return to the BWC immediately following the contest. No cost and no sign-up required!!!
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSMensoccer
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/cssmensoccer
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/csssaints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 11-7-2, 9-2-1 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints were able to avenge one of their regular season conference losses by defeating Martin Luther College 4-1 in the UMAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday.
-That marked the team's fifth straight win.
-In all five wins, they have scored at least three goals.
-Senior
Darby Henderson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) also scored for the fifth straight game to run his goal total to nine this season.
-Fellow senior
Luke Buckton (Bath, England/Writhlington School) recorded his conference-leading 14
th goal of the season in Wednesday's victory.
-The Saints are 6-0 this season when junior
Armin Bobaric (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) scores a goal.
-Junior goalkeeper
Corey Bulheller (Middleton, England/Highfields Secondary School (Bacone)) saw his first action since October 13 to earn the win on Wednesday.
-Saturday will mark the 13
th consecutive UMAC Tournament championship game for the Saints.
-CSS is 6-2-4 in the previous 12 UMAC championships with its last loss coming in 2008 against the University of Minnesota Morris; The Saints are 2-2 in the four shootouts.
What You Need to Know about UW-Superior:
Record: 17-2-1, 11-0-1 UMAC
-The Yellowjackets received a scare from fifth-seeded Crown College in Wednesday's semifinal, falling behind 2-1 in the 51
st minute, but responded with five goals over the next 18 minutes to win going away.
-Superior captured its first UMAC regular season title outright with its only blemish a draw against the Saints in Duluth in mid-September.
-UWS' 4-1 victory over St. Scholastica in Superior on October 8 was its largest margin of victory over the Saints in series history.
-The Yellowjackets are ranked eighth in North Region by the United Soccer Coaches.
-Superior enters Saturday on a 13-game win streak and unbeaten in its last 18 games.
-The Yellowjackets lead NCAA Division III with 62 assists and rank sixth in the country with 64 goals.
-James Bruce leads the team and is tied for a conference-high with 14 goals; He also leads the conference with 32 points.
-Fernando Bicalho, Elliot Chapman and Eric Watson all have a conference leading eight assists.
-Goalkeeper Dalton VonKaenel leads the UMAC with a 0.98 goal-against-average.
Series Record: CSS leads 14-6-6
(Last Meeting: 4-1 UWS – 10/8/2018)
Championship Series History:
2015 - The Saints and Yellowjackets first met for the UMAC Championship when UWS joined the conference and the game was played at Ordean Stadium … The Saints won that contest 5-0 after Superior went down a man early in the game with a red card.
2016 – The teams met again, this time on campus at St. Scholastica. The Saints would get two red cards in the contest, but survived to penalty kicks where they would advance 3-2.
2017 – Last year, the game was moved to Public Schools Stadium and although there were no red cards, the championship would again be decided by penalty kicks. This time it would be the Yellowjackets advancing by a 4-2 margin.
Looking Ahead: The winner of Saturday's championship will receive the automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament. The field will be announced Monday at noon on NCAA.com.
