SAINT PETER, Minn. — The NCAA released its 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket on Monday, Nov. 6 with the Gustavus men's soccer team earning an at-large bid. The Gusties (10-3-7) will travel to Waverly, Iowa on Friday to face the hosts Wartburg (12-1-6) in a four-team region that also includes Calvin (16-2-1) and Greenville (11-7-4). The Gusties will play the second regional game of the weekend, facing the Knights at 5:30 p.m. Friday. 

TICKET AND FIELD INFORMATION

The game will be played at Wartburg's Salzwedel Field. Ticket sales at Wartburg Soccer Field Complex will open 90 minutes prior to the start of the first game for spectators. No presale of tickets. No passes accepted. Adult tickets will be sold for $10, while tickets for senior citizens, students, and children five or older will be sold for $7.

GUSTIES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Gusties will make their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament Friday, and fourth in the last five years the tournament was held. Last season's appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight marked the Gusties' farthest run in postseason play since 2005, when the team finished as national runners-up, falling to undefeated Messiah in the title game. The Gustavus men's soccer program owns an all-time record of 12-10-9 in the national tournament.   

THE SERIES

Friday's game marks the 16th all-time meeting between Gustavus and Wartburg on the soccer pitch, with the Knights holding an 8-5-2 advantage in the series. In their last meeting, the two teams tied 0-0 in the 2022 season opener. The Gusties last defeated Wartburg in the 2018 season, winning 2-1 on the road in Waverly. Nick Leach and Matt Gibbons scored both Gustie goals to erase a 1-0 deficit, and win it for the Gusties in overtime.

LAST TIME THEY MET - GUSTIES vs. KNIGHTS

The Gusties and Knights last met in the on Sept. 1, 2022, as both teams opened the season against each other. The game ended in a 0-0 draw. 

The Gusties had a few scoring opportunities in the first half but four shots sailed wide and two others were saved by the keeper. After 45 minutes, the Gusties led the shot count 6-2. The home team continued to win the possession battle for the majority of the second half, but once again could not find the back of the net on five shots.

The Gustie defense stood tall without allowing a goal on five shots while keeper Wesley Sanders made four saves, including a crucial stop with one minute left in regulation. Gustavus had one final opportunity to score on a free kick just outside the box with 10 seconds left in the game, but the shot sailed high. The Gusties outshot the Knights 11-5 in a physical game that featured two yellow cards on each team.

LAST ACTION

The Gustavus men's soccer team suffered a heartbreaking result at St. Olaf last Saturday, falling to the No. 11 Oles in penalty kicks for the MIAC Playoff Championship. The Oles bested Gustavus in the title game for the second year in a row, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Gusties and Oles each scored a goal in the first half — just 47 seconds apart from each other — but that would be all the scoring for the game, as the two teams played nearly 88 minutes of scoreless soccer, battling to a 1-1 tie at the end of two 10-minute overtimes, forcing the game to penalty kicks. 

St. Olaf's Robi Buzakovic, who scored both Ole goals in last year's title game, took a feed in the box from Casey McCloskey and sent a well-placed ball to the low right corner to beat Gustie keeper Wesley Sanders for the 1-0 lead in minute 21. The Gusties bounced back — and did so quickly — as Owen Johnson dished a pass to Diego Paulin who evened the score with his second of the year at 22:26. St. Olaf maintained the majority of offensive pressure through the first half, outshooting the Gusties 9-3. 

The goalkeepers stole the show in the second half, as each made a pair of saves in the second 45 to keep their teams in the game. The Gusties nearly broke the deadlock a handful of times, most notably a pair of chances for Jared Hecht that barely missed the goal. Hecht totaled six shots during the game, four of which came in a span of seven minutes between the end of the second and start of overtime one. The Gusties outshot St. Olaf in extra time, 4-3, including a mark of 1-0 in shots on frame, thanks to the efforts of Owen Johnson. 

The best-of-five shootout began with each team connecting on three straight penalty kicks, as Otis Anderson, Sam Just, and Sanders each made their attempts. St. Olaf keeper Peter Forseth made a diving save on the Gusties' fourth attempt from Nick Katzman to give the advantage to St. Olaf. Hecht sent his kick high, sealing the win for St. Olaf on PKs.

St. Olaf finished with 17 shots to 13 for Gustavus, but the Gusties came away with more opportunities on goal, 5-4. Hecht led the way with six shots and two on frame, followed by Johnson who added three overall and two on goal, and one from Paulin to account for the full five. Sanders, in his final game as a Gustie, finished with three saves between the pipes. 

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

The Gusties boast a record of 10-3-7 heading into Friday's game. Last weekend's tie against St. Olaf marked the seventh of the season, a new program record for draws in a single season. The Gusties are averaging 1.95 goals per game, and holding opponents to a mere 0.90. The Gusties have outshot many of their opponents this season, posting an average of 17.6 shots per game to the opponents' 9.4. Jared Hecht leads the Gustie offensive attack, posting 21 points on 10 goals and one assist. Hecht, who missed the first nine games of the season due to injury, made an instant impact in his return to the pitch, and has scored more than one goal in a game four times this season. His five points against Concordia on Oct. 14 set a new career high for points in a game. Owen Johnson, the Gusties' resident play maker, gathered points in nine games this season, and led the team with 12 assists. This marks the third season in a row for Johnson with double-digit assists, and the fourth in a row he has led the team in the statistic. 

Defensively, the Gusties have relied on the one-two punch of Otis Anderson and Wesley Sanders to maintain one of the best goals against averages in the country. Anderson has played and started in all 20 of the Gusties' games, leading the team with 1,648 minutes of playing time. Between the pipes, Sanders has posted a goals against average of 0.83 and a save percentage of 0.817. With 67 saves this season, Sanders collected a record of 10-2-6, as well as seven shutouts to set the program record for most career shutouts in program history (27). Two of Sanders' shutouts came in the MIAC Playoffs, as the fifth-year has compiled a save percentage of 0.941 through the postseason.  

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS

Wartburg returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time and first time since 2014 after claiming the A-R-C (American Rivers Conference) Title with a 1-0 victory over the tournament's No. 1 seed Loras. The Knights boast a record of 12-1-6, their first season since 2016 with double digit wins. Their one loss is the program's best mark since 1981 (8-1-1). As a team, the Knights average 1.53 goals per game while allowing only 0.32. Their 0.921 save percentage and 0.789 shutout percentage both rank first in NCAA Division III. This is large in part due to the play of fifth-year goalkeeper Brennon Woody, who owns a DIII best save percentage of 0.917 with 13 total shutouts. The Wartburg offense has been paced by Edvin Rizvic and Paul Devine. Rizvic has 14 points on five goals and four assists, while Devine has 13 on five goals and three helpers. Wartburg's one loss of the season came on Oct. 10 to Loras College, falling 2-0 in the conference matchup. 

AWARDS SEASON

Jared Hecht, Owen Johnson, Otis Anderson, and Wesley Sanders all earned MIAC All-Conference honors for the 2023 season, the league office announced Tuesday. This is the third time that Anderson, Hecht, and Sanders have earned the award, and the second for Owen Johnson. Gustavus midfielder Sam Just and first-year forward Diego Paulin were also named to the 2023 MIAC All-Playoff Team for their performance through the Gusties' last three games. 

CLIMBING THE RANKS

Senior Owen Johnson currently ranks third in program history all-time for career assists (37). Johnson is five assists away from the program career record set by Matthew Gibbons (2017-21), and two away from passing Larry Shelhamer (1972-75) for second. Johnson currently ranks eighth in NCAA Division III for total assists this season.