SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women's soccer team is set to face Saint Mary's in the first round of the MIAC postseason at 3 p.m. on Monday. The Gusties, seeded sixth in the tournament, will take on the No. 3 seed SMU in Winona in the second of two quarterfinal games to be played on Monday.

The Gusties (9-4-5, 4-4-3 MIAC) finished the regular season sixth in the MIAC, while the Cardinals (12-2-4, 8-1-2 MIAC) posted their best conference record since 1994. St. Olaf (13-2-3, 7-2-2 MIAC) will play host to Augsburg (8-4-5, 4-2-5 MIAC) Monday at 2 p.m., while MIAC Co-Champions St. Catherine (12-2-4, 8-0-3 MIAC) and Carleton (14-1-5, 8-0-3 MIAC) await Monday's winners in the semifinals.

TICKET INFORMATION

All tickets for the 2024 MIAC Playoffs will be sold and purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing. There will not be cash sales at any venue; however, spectators can purchase tickets using a mobile device, including while at the venue. Tickets are available for purchase immediately. General admission adult tickets are $12 (plus HTT service charge). Student (with ID) tickets are $3 (plus HTT service charge), and children ages five and under are admitted free.

GUSTIES IN THE MIAC PLAYOFFS

The MIAC Women's Soccer Playoff Championship was established in 2003, and since then, Gustavus has made four appearances in the tournament with a record of 5-3 and one championship (2015). This is the first MIAC playoff appearance for the Gusties since 2021, when the team earned the fourth seed in the tournament, defeating No. 5 Augsburg in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion St. Catherine in the semifinal. 

SERIES HISTORY

Monday's game marks the 51st meeting between Gustavus and Saint Mary's on the pitch with the Cardinals leading the all-time series, 25-20-5. The game will be the first-ever postseason match-up between the two teams. Saint Mary's holds a 1-2 record in the MIAC Playoffs, making appearances in the tournament in 2021 and 2022. The Gusties are 9-14-3 when playing at Ochrymowycz Field and have lost four of the five against the Cardinals since 2020. Prior to the 2020 loss in Winona, the Gusties carried an unbeaten streak against the Cardinals that lasted nine games and eight years.  

EARLIER THIS FALL

Saint Mary's earned its first conference win of the season over the Gusties on Sept. 25, a 2-1 decision in Winona. 

Saint Mary's opened the scoring just nine minutes into play, as the Cardinals' Lauryn Skoruppa picked up a loose ball off a throw-in, walked through the Gustie defense, and sent a shot past keeper Katelyn Olson (So., Cloquet, Minn.) into the right corner. Her goal held as the only tally to the half, as Olson came up with a pair of big saves throughout the first 45. 

Ellen Becken (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) evened the score for the team 12 minutes after the break, collecting a long ball bouncing in the SMU box and beating two defenders over her shoulder to send her team-leading fourth goal of the season into the middle of the goal. Becken's goal held for 17 minutes, until the home team emerged with the lead once again. Lauren Ashe took a free kick for the Cardinals, sending it toward the Gustie goal. A collision with Olson allowed Makayla Chow to find the loose ball and tap it into the net, scoring the final goal of the game. 

As a team, the Gusties compiled eight shots and five on goal compared to 16 and nine on goal for the Cardinals. SMU held the advantage in corner kicks as well, 6-3. Five different Gusties accounted for all five shots, while Olson finished with seven saves on the night. 

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

The Gusties have gone the last 22 days and five games without a loss, going 3-0-2 in that span to overcome a trio of early MIAC losses and punch a ticket back to the conference playoffs. Gustavus is averaging 1.72 goals per game while allowing 0.94 against, out-shooting opponents 16.8-13.7 this season. Ellen Becken and Cambelle Waldspurger (Jr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) have led the offensive charge for the Gusties, while Katelyn Olson has played every minute in goal this year. Defenders Lucie Henrich (Sr., Shoreview, Minn.), Brianna Monahan (Sr., Medina, Minn.), and Payton Mahady (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) have helped Olson and the Gusties maintain the best save percentage in the conference (.850).

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS

The Gusties averaged just over one goal per game (1.3) for the first 12 games of the season, but have found their offensive stride as of late, averaging 2.8 goals per game in their last five, including a pair of impressive come-from-behind draws against St. Catherine and St. Olaf. Prior to Oct. 16's game against St. Catherine, seven of the Gusties' games were decided by one goal. Last Saturday's 3-1 win at Bethel marked the team's first non-shutout victory, as the Gusties held opponents scoreless in all seven of their prior wins. Saturday's 5-1 win over St. Scholastica was the first time in 21 years that the Gusties have scored five goals or more against a conference opponent, the last being an 8-0 win over Augsburg on Oct. 14, 2003.

LUCK OF THE DRAW

The Gusties have played to a draw five times this season, the most since the 1990 team went 8-2-5 overall. Three of the five have come against conference opponents, all of which will be competing in the MIAC Playoffs (Augsburg, St. Catherine, and St. Olaf).   

KATELYN NO GOAL-SON

Katelyn Olson has emerged as one of the conference's best goalkeepers in her sophomore season with the Gusties, earning MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season and collecting seven shutouts, a mark that ranks second in the conference and 37th among all NCAA Division III goalkeepers. Her .944 goals against average ranks fourth in the conference, while her .850 save percentage is second. Olson is averaging 5.33 saves per game, and has made more than six saves in a game six times this season, including seven against Saint Mary's earlier this fall.

A FORCE TO BE BECKEN'D WITH

Ellen Becken is making the most of her senior season, leading the Gusties in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Playing in all 18 games, Becken's seven goals rank 10th in the MIAC, while her five assists are tied for second. She scored the Gusties' lone goal against the Cardinals earlier in the year, and has at least a point in 10 games this season.

CAM CAN

Cambelle Waldspurger has seven points in her last four games for the Gusties, including a four-point outing in the team's 5-1 win at St. Scholastica on Saturday. Playing in just 38 minutes of the game, Waldspurger collected her sixth goal of the season and a pair of assists in the win. Waldspurger assisted the team's first goal, and scored the eventual game-winner just 35 seconds later. She added another assist on the Gusties' fourth of the game, and finished with four shots and two on goal. Waldspurger scored one of the Gusties' two goals in the team's last victory over Saint Mary's, a 2-1 win in 2023.

BK – HAVE IT YOUR WAY

Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie collected her 100th career win in the team's victory over St. Scholastica on Saturday. She joins Mike Stehlik (1990-11) as the only two coaches in the rich history of the program to collect wins in the triple digits.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

Saint Mary's is enjoying a historical season, collecting more than 10 wins on the year for the fourth time in the last five seasons (excluding the shortened 2020 COVID-19 pandemic year). The Cardinals went 8-1-2 in league play, posting their best conference record in 30 years when the team went 8-1-1 in 1994. 

Saint Mary's is averaging 1.61 goals per game, while allowing 0.50, conceding just nine goals all season, a mark that leads the MIAC. The Cardinals are out-shooting opponents by an average mark of 12.7-8.2, with 50 percent of their attempts on target. Lauryn Skoruppa is leading the SMU offense, while Anna Peckosh has seen the most time between the pipes. 

SHUTOUT STREAK

Saint Mary's hasn't allowed a goal in over 576 minutes of play, posting a shutout streak that dates back to a second half goal in a 2-1 non-conference win over UW-Stout on Oct. 9. Goalkeeper Anna Peckosh has been a major factor in a majority of those shutouts, having not allowed a goal herself since Sept. 28. While the Cardinal defense has held opponents to less than three shots on goal five times in their last seven games, Peckosh posted six- and seven-save shutouts last month to keep the streak alive. 

STOPPING SKORUPPA

Junior forward Lauryn Skoruppa is the Cardinals' biggest offensive threat after leading the team in scoring through the regular season, earning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors most recently on Oct. 14. Skoruppa has nine goals (9th/MIAC) and four assists (19th/MIAC) for 22 points (7th/MIAC). Her four game-winning goals are tied for second most in the conference. She has posted six multi-point games this season, including a seven-point outing against Bethel on Oct. 12.