Carleton Knights Men’s Soccer Clinch Third Straight MIAC Title

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Carleton College men’s soccer team (11-3, 8-1 MIAC) clinched at least a share of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title with a 2-0 road victory at Augsburg College. The Knights got second-half goals from Ryan Cammarota (So./Neenah, Wis.) and Wes Elfman (Jr./Madison, Wis./Edgewood) as they also secured the top seed in the MIAC Playoffs.

The win was the ninth straight for the Knights who possess a 23-1 edge in scoring during the streak. Carleton has pitched six straight shutouts and has allowed only one goal over its last 881:58.

Since the Knights re-joined the MIAC in 1983, only three programs have won at least a share of three straight conference regular-season men’s soccer titles: Macalester (1997-99 and 2001-03), Gustavus (2004-07), and Carleton (2007-09). The Knights will win the conference outright by either winning their Oct. 31 match at St. Olaf, or by having the University of St. Thomas lose or tie any one of its remaining four MIAC contests.

While Carleton enjoyed frequent success during its time as a member of the Midwest Conference, the Knights have previously seen only four such streaks during their time in the MIAC. In men’s sports, the outdoor track and field earned six consecutive conference crowns from 1920-1925, and the men’s basketball program won three straight titles from 1921-23. Women’s tennis grabbed the conference crown three consecutive times from 1985-87, and the women’s basketball won three straight titles from 2003-05.

The Knights streak of regular-season success in conference play actually had its jumping off point with a strong finish to the 2006 campaign. Since Oct. 8 of that year, Carleton is 49-7-6 (.839) overall and a staggering 28-2-3 (.894) in MIAC play.

It appeared early that Augsburg (5-7-1, 1-6 MIAC) was poised to pull off the upset. In the opening minute David Scheller unleashed a shot past the out-stretched arms of Carleton keeper Pete Semmer (Jr./Del Mar, Calif./Bishop’s School), but the ball rolled just outside the far post. The Auggies had two other solid chances in the early going before the Knights settled down and equaled the pace of play. Semmer finished the night with five saves in recording his ninth shutout of the year.

Carleton had a pair of opportunities to get on the scoreboard midway through the first period, but the Augsburg defense turned the Knights away.

It’s a common axiom in the soccer world that the first five minutes and last five minutes of each half are crucial points in the game. The Knights maximized their chances, getting scores in each key time frame.

In the 49th minute, Tim Wills (So./Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) took a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box, but Pascaul Venter made the stop. However the Augsburg keeper was unable to smother the rebound, and Cammarota dribbled to his left before calmly bending in a short-angle shot from 12 yards out.

Augsburg maintained the pressure in looking for the equalizer but faced a stiffer challenge after defender Joe Keller was sent off with a red card at 73:55.

Both teams continued to move the ball quickly from end to end as they tried to find either the tying or insurance goal.

Finally in the 90th minute, with Venter playing forward, Wills fed Elfman on a breakaway as the junior sprinted free knocking the ball into the net with less than a second remaining on the clock.

Augsburg outshot Carleton 18-15, but the Knights possessed a 10-3 edge in corner kicks.

The Knights play their final home regular-season game on Tuesday, Oct. 20 when they host Northwestern College in a non-conference affair at 4 p.m.