Preview - #6 Concordia at #3 Macalester

MIAC QUARTERFINALS: #6 Concordia (11-7-0/6-5-0 MIAC) at #3 Macalester (10-2-4/7-1-3 MIAC) 

DATE: November 3, 2015
LOCATION: St. Paul, Minn. (Macalester Stadium)
GAME TIME: 2 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: Macalester Stretch Internet GameDay


Live Stats: Macalester Stretch Internet GameDay

2015 MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament

Nov. 3 (Tuesday)
MIAC Quarterfinals
No.6 seed Concordia @ No.3 seed Macalester 2 p.m.
No. 5 seed St. Catherine @ No.4 seed Augsburg 2 p.m.

Nov. 4 (Wednesday)
MIAC Semifinals
No.4/5 winner @ No.1 seed St. Thomas 2 p.m.
No.3/6 winner @ No.2 seed Gustavus 2 p.m.

Nov. 7 (Saturday)
MIAC Championship
Lowest remaining seed @ Highest remaining seed 1 p.m.

Complete MIAC Women's Soccer Tournament History (pdf)

MIAC Team Playoff Notes:
- Concordia is making its 13th consecutive MIAC playoff appearance. CC is the only team in the conference to appear in all 13 postseason tournaments. 
- Concordia has played in 21 conference playoff games and owns an 8-7-6 mark. The Cobbers have a 5-1 record in the five 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 1-2-0 against Macalester in MIAC playoffs and 0-1 in conference tournament games that go into overtime. The teams have not met in the MIAC playoffs since 2007. They have met twice in title game with the Scots claiming both of those contests in 2004 and 2005.
- Macalester is making its 10th trip to the MIAC postseason and first since 2013. They went to the first seven conference tournaments but then had their streak ended in 2010.
- Macalester has played in 14 conference playoff games and owns a 7-4-2 mark in those games. The Scots were 5-0-1 in their first six games but since 2006 have gone 2-4-1. 
- Macalester is 5-1 in home games in the MIAC playoffs. The lone loss came in 2009 against Carleton in the title game.  
- Macalester is 1-1 in conference games that are decided in penalty kicks. Both shootout games came against St. Benedict.    

Cobbers vs. Macalester Series History:

Series started: 1984

Macalester leads overall series: 26-18-5

Series Synopsis: Concordia has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams including a pair of postseason wins in 2009 and 2007. The lone win for the Scots in that stretch came earlier this season when they won 2-0 in Moorhead. Macalester had a 15-game winning streak in the series but the streak was stopped in 2003...CC is 5-0-1 against MAC in the last six games in St. Paul which includes a 3-1 win in the second round of the NCAA playoffs in 2009...the Scots hold a 2-1-0 edge in MIAC playoff games. The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was back in 2007 when the Cobbers won 2-0 in Moorhead.      
      

Earlier This Year: Macalester 2 at Concordia 
Concordia conceded a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of the game on Sept. 19, was never able to recover and lost 2-0.

At the 3:53 mark Michaela McGonigle snuck in an unassisted goal and nearly seven minutes later Lily Jilk scored at the 9:53 mark giving the Scots a 2-0 advantage in the first half. 

The Cobbers struggled to get inside the box and managed 10 shots throughout the entire game. Emily Wendorff had four shots on goal for Concordia. CC did not have a corner kick for the whole game.    

Cobber goalie Elizabeth Bitzan made eight saves in the game.  

Stat Central:

- 2015 Concordia Statistics

- 2015 Macalester Statistics

- 2015 MIAC Statistics

- 2015 Concordia NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

- 2015 Macalester NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

3 Stars of the Game - 3 notes to make you a start while watching the game
1. Concordia is 6-3-0 on the road this year against teams playing at home (CC was 0-2 on the road in games played on a neutral field). The Cobbers have conceded at least one goal in eight of the nine road games this year. The only road shutout came at Buena Vista (2-0). The Scots are 7-1-1 at home this year and are unbeaten in their last seven games played at Macalester Stadium.  

2. Concordia is 8-1 in games when leading scorer Emily Wendorff scores a goal. She has only had back-to-back goalless games once this season. Wendorff didn't score in the Cobbers' regular-season finale loss at St. Catherine on Saturday. Macalester is 4-0-1 when leading scorer Jaime Hasama scores a goal. She has scored two goals in tow of the last three games for the Scots.    

3. The two teams are among the "cleanest" in the MIAC. In addition to being whistled for few fouls, the teams have combined for only one yellow card in conference play. Concordia was issued one card during their 11 MIAC games while the Scots did not earn a yellow card this season. 

Scouting the Scots:
Macalester enters the quarterfinal game as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Scots have won six straight games and are unbeaten in their last 11 games. The last time they lost was on Sept. 23 at Wartburg. During their 11-game unbeaten stretch Macalester has outscored its opponents 18-4.

Macalester is led by sophomore midfielder Jaime Hasama. Hasama has a team-leading nine goals and 20 points. She has scored two goals in two of the past three games and has three multiple-goal games this season. She also has a team-leading 47 shots. Lydia Chodosh and Hannah Pollardgarber are the only other members of the Scots with more than two goals on the seaosn. Both players have four goals. Chodosh leads the team in assists (6) and is second in shots (42). Chodosh had an assist on both goals in the Scots' 2-0 win over the Cobbers earlier in the year.     

The calling card for the Scots has been their defense. Macalester led the MIAC in goals allowed and goals against average in conference play. The Scots only conceded six goals in their 11 league games and had six shutouts. They had a stingy 0.51 goals against average in the MIAC. Sophomore goalie Rachel Wilson-King led the MIAC in goals against average and save percentage in league play. She enters Tuesday with a 0.43 overall goals against average and has five shutouts on the season. Wilson-King is currently ranked 17th in the nation in goals against average.          

Cobber SID Picks To Click:
Offense - #20 Emily Wendorff, Jr., F
This is the easy one. When Wendorff scores the Cobbers are 8-1. Give her the ball around thepenalty area - end of story. 


Defense - #19 Sadie Hayes, Sr., D
The key to the game for Concordia on Tuesday will be in on the backline where the Cobberdefenders will have to deal with the Macalester forwards and organize the back seven in order tostop a hot Scot offense. Macalester has scored at least one goal in 11 straight games and hasrecorded more than one goal in five of their last eight games.

The key for the Concordia defense will be to avoid turning the ball over in dangerous spots on thefield and not allow quick strikes for the Scots. And one more thing, don't allow Macalester to gettwo goals in front in the first 10 minutes of play which happened earlier in the year.

And don't forget to watch for Hayes coming forward on corner kicks. She has three goals on theyear and all have come on corner kicks.    

Cobber Women's Soccer MIAC Playoff Preview Video