SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men's soccer team kicks off postseason action on Monday at 2 p.m. with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) quarterfinal matchup against the Bethel University Royals at the Gustie Soccer Field. The Gusties, seeded No. 4 in the postseason, will face the No. 5 seed Bethel, with the winner advancing to the MIAC semifinal on Thursday. 

The Gusties (13-4-1, 6-3-1 MIAC) come into the game on a three-game winning streak, with wins over Concordia, UW-Superior, and Saint Mary's helping to build momentum for the Gustavus team heading into the conference tournament. Bethel (10-5-3, 5-4-1 MIAC) ended their regular season with a 1-5 loss to Macalester, snapping a streak of four games unbeaten. 

COMMON OPPONENTS

Both Gustavus and Bethel beat five common opponents, Concordia, Hamline, Saint John's, Saint Mary's and WIAC foe UW-River Falls. The Gusties defeated Concordia, Saint Mary's, and UW-River Falls in more dominant fashion, taking 5-0, 3-0, and 3-0 wins respectively compared to Bethel's 2-0, 4-3, and 2-1 wins. Both teams lost to two teams, St. Olaf and Macalester. These two teams followed differing paths with Augsburg, St. Scholastica, and Carleton to separate each other in the table. While Gustavus lost 1-0 to Augsburg, Bethel picked up a 2-2 draw with a goal with 12 seconds left in the game. Bethel slipped against St. Scholastica, losing 2-1 to a team that Gustavus defeated 6-1. Bethel picked up three crucial points against Carleton with a 4-2 win in comparison to Gustavus' 1-1 draw. 

HEAD TO HEAD

On October 4th, the two teams battled at the Ona Orth Athletic Complex on the campus of Bethel University. Bethel scored on a penalty kick in the 36th minute but Gustavus responded with four goals courtesy of four different goal scorers, Joe Flory (Jr., Whitchurch, England), Kieran Mahan (Fy. Wayzata, Minn.), Diego Paulin (Jr., Iporã, Paraná, Brazil), and Leo Runestad (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) to separate the teams. Bethel scored a goal with 17 seconds left in the game, but the result was decided, ending in a 4-2 victory for the Gusties. The game was contentious, with the Royals picking up five yellow cards throughout the match to the Gusties' two. Gustavus held a small advantage in shots on goal with six compared to Bethel's five, where Vikram Couto (Fy., Durham, N.C.) made three saves. 

GLORY, GLORY, JOE FLORY

Junior Joe Flory has been outstanding this season for the Gusties, scoring 13 goals across eighteen matches, good for fourth in the MIAC. On September 15th, Flory was named MIAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, when he scored two goals and added an assist in a 4-2  comeback win over Luther. Flory has been a clutch player as well, with six game-winning goals, tied for the most in the conference. 

GUSTIES IN THE MIAC PLAYOFFS

Since the inception of the MIAC Men's Soccer Playoff, Gustavus has been dominant, winning seven MIAC Playoff Championships, the most out of any MIAC school. All time, the Gusties have an 18-11 history over 29 games in 18 appearances before this season. Gustavus has only missed the playoffs three times, in 2008, 2010, and 2015, but hold the advantage in appearances over St. Olaf, who has made the playoff 17 times. The Playoff Championship has evaded the Gusties, making the final the last three years, losing to St. Olaf each time. For Bethel, this is their fourth appearance all time, holding a 1-3 record. 

GUSTAVUS IN THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION

In the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, Gustavus received votes. This season, the Gusties have gotten as high as 24th in the land, reaching the mark in the September 30th iteration of the poll. October 28th also marked the first regional coaches poll and the Gusties found themselves placed sixth in the region, behind MIAC teams St. Olaf, Augsburg, and Macalester. For the second season, the at-large bids for the NCAA tournament will be decided by the new NCAA Power Index (NPI), which uses an objective system to rank teams by winning percentage, strength of schedule, home-away multiplier, quality win bonus, and overtime results (when relevant). As of November 1st, Gustavus ranks 25th in the nation, whereas Bethel sits down at 79th. 36 teams receive automatic bids for being their respective conference champion, leaving 28 at-large bids up for grabs. The Gusties leave themselves on the bubble, adding more meaning to this playoff run, trying to solidify a spot in the NCAA tournament. 

OLIVER'S OPENING ACT

Head Coach Tyler Oliver, in his first season at the helm, has continued the legacy of success for the Gustavus men's soccer program. From 2019-2022, Oliver was on staff at Gustavus, getting a taste of the program standard. While on the Gustie sideline, Oliver was a part of two MIAC regular season championships, one MIAC playoff title, and two NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by a national quarterfinal finish in 2022. Oliver and the rest of the coaches were named 2022 North Region Staff of the Year by United Soccer Coaches. This season's success sets up Oliver's first head coaching appearance in the MIAC playoffs, after two seasons at Hamline where his teams failed to qualify. 

TICKET INFORMATION

All tickets 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. General admission tickets are $12 (plus HTT service charge) and students with their ID are $3 (plus HTT service charge). Children five and under receive free admission. 

PAY-PER-VIEW

The 2025 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs will be streamed live on the MIAC Sports Network in a pay-per-view format. Individual playoff contests will be streamed for $10 each, or $25 for a "championship pass" to stream the entire tournament live. On-demand access to playoff games will be available after the NCAA Tournament concludes.
 

MIAC PLAYOFF FORMAT

The winner of this quarterfinal matchup will advance to the MIAC playoff semifinals. The top two seeds, No. 1 St. Olaf and No. 2 Macalester received first round byes and the two teams who win their quarterfinal matchups will be placed in the semifinals and reseeded based on which teams advance. The higher seeded team will be placed against the No. 2 seed Macalester on Thursday in St. Paul and the lower seeded team to advance will face No. 1 St. Olaf on Thursday in Northfield. The other quarterfinal places the No. 3 seed Augsburg at home facing No. 6 seed Saint John's.