NORTHFIELD, Minn. — For the second time this season, the Gustie men's soccer team and the Carleton Knights played to a 1-0 score in Northfield. This time, though, it was the Gusties who came out on top when it mattered most, defeating the nationally-ranked No. 12 Knights to advance to the MIAC Championship this Saturday.
Joe Flory scored the only goal of the game in the 60th minute, while
Wesley Sanders stood tall in goal for the shutout.
"Firstly Carleton is a really really good team. You don't get to No. 12 in the country without being a very dangerous side & they are coached by the most experienced guy in the conference in Bob. He's been there many times before so you know exactly what kind of game it's going to be," said Head Coach
Tudor Flintham. They've only conceded four goals all season before today so we knew it would be tight margins. The guys were smiling at the end because we told them it was going to be a one goal game from a set play & most likely the second phase or a knock down. Sometimes you just have a feel for what a game is going to look like & it's satisfying to know that not only was our preparation spot on, but that the lads executed it almost exactly. Some things to clean up, sure. But in general we got more things right than wrong today."
Both teams battled to a 0-0 deadlock at the half, with Carleton maintaining the majority of the offensive chances. The Gusties weren't without their opportunities, as a header from
Jared Hecht just barely missed to the left of the Knight goal. After 45 minutes of play, Carleton outshout the Gusties 8-6 with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
Halftime shifted momentum in favor of the Gusties. A corner kick began the scoring play, as
Otis Anderson sent the ball into play 15 minutes into the second half. The loose ball was found by
Diego Paulin in the box made his own attempt on goal. Flory was there to pick up the rebound, getting his fifth goal of the season. Gustavus nearly doubled its lead with 10 minutes later, as Hecht beat three Carleton defenders to send a through ball to
Owen Johnson. Johnson weaved his way past the remaining Carleton Knight before sending a shot directly to the left corner of the goal. Johnson's tally was called off, though, as the play was deemed offsides. Battling through the final minutes of the game with only a one-goal cushion, Sanders made a number of acrobatic saves, and robbed Carleton leading scorer Ben Pennell of the equalizer with less than a minute remaining in play.
Sanders had a sensational day between the pipes, making nine saves to post his 27th career clean sheet. After tying the program record on Monday, Sanders is now the outright owner of the most shutouts by any goalkeeper in Gustavus men's soccer history. The Gusties totaled 13 shots and four on frame. Hecht, Johnson, Paulin, and Flory each accounted for one on goal.
"Wes was a beast again and further cements himself as one of the all time best keepers in program and conference history. Any time you shut out a top-12 team in the country your keeper is probably going to have to step up, but the defense was really solid all around and put their bodies on the line. Then, at the other end, we thought Jared would be a handful, and that proved the case, but
Jack Knight was probably the player of the game from an attacking perspective. Along with Owen &
Joe Flory who stepped up again with big contributions. We'll rest and recover now with a huge one against a team who's been our main rival the past handful of years. It promises to be a great game!"
The Gusties advance to their second-straight MIAC title game, and will face the winner of St. Olaf and Macalester Saturday afternoon.
