MIAC Final Preview - #2 Concordia at #1 Augsburg

MIAC CHAMPIONSHIP: #2 Concordia (13-3-3/8-1-2 MIAC) AT #1 Augsburg (15-4-0/9-2-0 MIAC)

DATE: November 8, 2014
LOCATION: Minneapolis, Minn. (Edor Nelson Field)
GAME TIME: 7 p.m.
TICKETS: $7 for adult and $3 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC Passes will be honored. No other passes are to be accepted.


Live Video: Augsburg Stretch Internet GameDay


Live Stats: Augsburg Stretch Internet GameDay

2014 MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament

Nov. 4 (Tuesday)
MIAC Quarterfinals
No.6 seed Bethel 1 @ No.3 Seed Carleton 3 | Recap
No. 5 seed St. Thomas 0 @ No.4 seed St. Ben's 0 2OT (St. Thomas wins PK's 2-0) | Recap

Nov. 5 (Wednesday)
MIAC Semifinals
No.3 seed Carleton 0 @ No.2 seed Concordia 0 2OT | Recap
*Concordia advances 3-0 on penalty kicks
No.5 seed St. Thomas 0 @ No.1 seed Augsburg 1 | Recap

Nov. 8 (Saturday)
MIAC Championship
#2 Concordia @ #1 Augsburg 7 p.m. | Live Video | Live Stats

Complete MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament History (pdf)

MIAC Team Playoff Notes:
- Concordia has played in 20 conference playoff games and owns an 8-6-6 mark. The Cobbers have a 5-1 record in the six ties that were decided by a penalty kick shootout. CC has won the tournament title four times in the past eight years (2012, 2010, 2007, 2006).
- Concordia is playing in its ninth MIAC title game in the 12-year history of the tournament. (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)
- Concordia is 1-0-1 against Augsburg in the MIAC playoffs and claimed a dramatic 7-6 penalty kick shootout win that went all the way to 10 shooters. The penalty kick shootout win was in the title game in 2012. The only other tournament match-up between the teams occurred back in 2006 when the Cobbers claimed a 1-0 win in the semifinals.
- The two previous games between the Cobbers and Auggies in the conference playoffs were played in Moorhead 
- Augsburg is making its sixth trip to the MIAC playoffs. They are returning to te conference postseason after missing the playoffs last season. The Auggies are 2-4-1 in the league playoffs and are 0-1 in games decided by penalty kicks.
- Augsburg is playing in its second MIAC championship game (2012, 2014). 
- The Auggies made the MIAC playoffs for four straight seasons between 2004-07 but then missed three straight tournaments before making it back in 2012. Augsburg lost their first four conference tournament games. Their first win came against St. Olaf in the semifinals in 2012.  
- The Cobbers are unbeaten in their last four games. Two of those four were double 0-0 double overtime ties with Carleton. CC finished off the regular season by beating Macalester 1-0 and St. Ben's 2-1 to earn the No.2 seed in the playoffs.
- Concordia has only allowed one goal in its last four games and four goals since Oct. 8 - a streak that covers eight games. 
- Augsburg enters the championship game on the heels of a 1-0 win over St. Thomas in the MIAC semifinals. The Auggies are unbeaten in their last seven games and have only lost twice since the start of middle of September.
- Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 28-2 in their last seven games. That stat is a little "skewed" since they turned in a 15-0 whitewash of Finlandia on Oct. 20.

Cobbers vs. Augsburg Series History:

Series started: 1986

Concordia leads overall series: 19-10-5

Series Synopsis: Concordia has owned the series with Augsburg since 2002. The Cobbers have only lost once to the Auggies in the past 15 games. CC is 10-1-4 during that stretch. The only win for Augsburg in the past 13 years came in 2005 when they claimed a 4-1 in Minneapolis. The Cobbers are outscoring the Auggies 32-14 since 2002...Concordia is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games played at Augsburg in a streak that dates back to 1995. The Auggies won three out of five games at home from 1995-05. Since 2005 the Cobbers own a 2-0-2 mark in games at Augsburg. Cobber head coach Kevin Roos is 1-0-1 against the Auggies in his coaching career and was 4-0-0 against Augsburg in his playing career for Concordia from 1998-01. 
      

Earlier This Year: Augsburg 1 at Concordia 2 | Pictures | Video
Concordia used a pair of goals in the first 25 minutes of play to beat Augsburg 2-1 in Moorhead on Oct. 1. The Cobbers had to hang on in the final minutes of play as the Auggies pressed for the game-tying goal.

Senior midfielder Elizabeth Robinson headed home the opening goal of the game at the 6:54 mark and then Emily Wendorff scored the eventual-game winning goal at 23:19 on a breakaway. Augsburg got to within one goal just before half when Marta Anderson scored at the 43:11 mark.

Both teams had chances in the second half but both goalies came up with big saves or big stops on crossing attempts.

Concordia held a 7-4 edge in total shots and a 7-2 edge in shots on goal. Both team's defenses would bend but not break to allow shots in the final 20 yards.

Cobber goalie Elizabeth Bitzan made one save while Auggie goalie Marissa Guillou stopped five shots. Both goalies did a good job of controlling their penalty area and cutting off crosses and through balls.

Stat Central:

- 2014 Concordia Statistics

- 2014 Augsburg Statistics

- 2014 MIAC Statistics

- 2014 Concordia NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

- 2014 Augsburg NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

Penalty Kicks - 12 Quick Hits To Help You Get Ready To Finish From The PK Spot:
1. Concordia has played in eight overtime games this year and are 6-0-2 in those contests. Of those eight OT games, six have come on Saturday and four went to double overtime.

2. Augsburg has only played two overtime games this season. They are 1-1-0 in OT and both games were decided in the first overtime period.

3. Concordia is 6-2-1 in games played away from Moorhead this season and 6-1-2 in games played on a Saturday. The only loss at home on a Saturday came against No.5-ranked Wheaton (Ill.).  The Auggies are 8-1-0 at home and 5-2-0 in games played on a Saturday. Augsburg's only loss at home came on a Saturday (Carleton 2-1 - Oct. 11).

4. The Cobbers have outscored their opponents 10-4 in the first half but only 10-8 in the second half of play. They hold a 5-0 edge in overtime periods.

5. Augsburg has outscored its opponents 35-6 in the first half and 25-8 in the second period. They are even at 1-1 in the two overtime games. Of the six goals allowed in the first half of play, two came against Concordia in their regular-season match-up. 

6. Concordia finished the MIAC conference season with the second best defense in the league. The Cobbers only conceded seven goals in the 11 conference games.

7. Augsburg finished the MIAC conference season as the top offense in the league. The Auggies scored 23 goals in 11 MIAC games.

8. Concordia led the MIAC in shutouts this season. The Cobbers have posted 11 shutouts in their 19 overall games and have only allowed more than one goal in a game on two occasions.

9. Augsburg has scored at least two goals in 11 games this season and have scored eight or more in three games.  The Auggies were only shutout once this season.    

10.  Concordia have been awarded only one penalty kick this season and scored on the lone spot kick. CC is now 4-for-4 on penalty kicks after making all three on Wednesday in the PK win over Carleton. The Cobbers have been whistled for two penalty kicks and opposing teams are 1-for-2 in those chances. Augsburg has taken two penalty kicks and allowed one this season. Both the Auggies and their opponents haven't missed from the spot. Augsburg is 2-for-2 while their opponents are 1-for-1.

11. Concordia scored their first goal directly from a corner kick in overtime against St. Ben's on Saturday. The Cobbers had taken 87 corners before finally converting on their 88th. CC is now 1-for-91 in corner kick scoring chances. 

12. Concordia has been shown seven yellow cards this season as opposed to three bookings for the Auggies. Neither team has been given a red card this year. The last red card for the Cobbers came in 2010 while the last sending off for Augsburg was in 2012. 

Scouting the Auggies:
Augsburg enters the MIAC championship game on a month-long run that culminated in their first-ever MIAC regular-season title. The Auggies have won seven straight and are 8-1-0 since losing to the Cobbers on Oct. 1.  
 
Augsburg is driven by their potent offense. The Auggies led the MIAC in goals scored in both conference and overall games. Augsburg scored 23 goals in 11 league games and has 61 in their 19 overall games. They were shutout only once this season and have scored at least two goals in 11 contests in 2014. The Auggies have also scored eight or more goals on three occassions.

The Auggie offense is led by MIAC MVP candidate Olivia Muyres who had 11 goals in 11 MIAC games. She has 14 overall goals this campaign and leads the team with 37 points. She has 45 goals and 26 assists for 116 points in her career at Augsburg. She scored at least one goal in nine games this year and has four multiple-goa games.

If teams somehow find a way to stop Muyres, they leave the field open for fellow frontrunner Marie Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was second in the MIAC in goals scored to give the Auggies the top two scorers in the league. Fitzgerald has 13 goals and scored the game winner in the MIAC semifinal against St. Thomas.   

Molly Allen is the table setter for the Augsburg offense. She has 15 assists this season and had nine in MIAC games. She led the MIAC in assists this season and is ranked seventh in Division III in assists and assists per game. Of her 15 assists, five have been to Muyres.  

Augsburg's defense allowed nine goals in 11 MIAC games and 15 in their 19 overall games. Auggie freshman goalie  Marissa Guillou was fifth in the MIAC in goals against in conference games with a 0.85 GAA. She has five shutouts on the season.     

Cobber SID Pick To Click:

#27 Libby Fransdal, Sr., D/#19 Sadie Hayes, Jr., D
The two central defenders for the Cobbers will need to be sharp on Saturday night as they will be tested all game long by the Auggie offense that likes to put pressure on opposing team's back lines with quick passes to MIAC leading scorer Olivia Muyres and MIAC second leading scorer Marie Fitzgerald.

Fransdal and Hayes were the keys to keeping the dynamic duo off the board in the regular-season meeting between the two teams. They will have to be equally sharp on Saturday. Fransdal has been the league's top shutdown defender the past two seasons and Hayes has made a huge step this season and gives the Cobbers two of the best central defenders in the MIAC.