Minnesota D-III Teams Announced for NCAA Soccer Playoffs
The NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Committee announced the field of 59 teams for the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship Sunday evening.
Thirty-nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2009 championship. Three teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 17 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.
Two teams from Minnesota will be going to the tournament.
Macalester College won the MIAC playoff on Saturday afternoon giving them an automatic birth into the tourney.
In somewhat of a surprise, St. Olaf will also be going to the tournament as a Pool C team. St. Olaf had been nationally ranked most of the season but ended up in 3rd place in the MIAC standings with a 7-3-0 conference record and a 13-4-2 overall record. Carleton, who finished first in the conference but lost in the MIAC Playoff final to Macalester, finished with a better record than St. Olaf (8-2 conference record and a 15-5 overall), but were left out of the tournament.
The NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Committee announced today the field of 63 teams for the 2009 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship.
Forty conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2009 championship. Two teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 21 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.
Five teams from Minnesota will be represented in the women’s tournament.
Carleton College won the MIAC playoff on Saturday evening giving them an automatic birth into the tourney.
St. Scholastica goes to the big show as a Pool B team. The Saints, who participate in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), finished first in their conference with a 13-0-1 and a 17-3-2 overall record.
Concordia-Moorhead, Macalester and St. Thomas will all be going to the tourney via Pool C teams.
Concordia-Moorhead finished first in the MIAC conference with a 10-0-1 conference record and a 16-0-2 overall. The Cobbers were upset in the first round of the MIAC Playoffs. The Cobbers are ranked 7th Nationally by the NSCAA.
Macalester College finished 3rd in MIAC with a 7-3-1 conference and 13-5-2 overall record. Macalester appeared in the final of the MIAC playoff but were beaten by Carleton 3-0 on Saturday evening.
St. Thomas finished 2nd in MIAC with a 8-2-1 conference and a 13-5-1 overall record.
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WOW…if I was a Carleton player I’d be very upset that St Olaf got a bid and my team didn’t.
What was the NCAA thinking with this decision?
No RPI for D3 so it’s hard to know. Perhaps their non-conference schedule? Not sure why they were ranked so high all year long either. No offense to St. Olaf, but Carlton was the better team record wise. Carlton did get beat at the end of the season by St. Olaf so perhaps that played into it as well?
Yes, but where are the first rounds going to be held? =)
The Macalester women are the only team to host games. The men play in Dubuque at Loras and in Illinois at Dominican.
Shocking that Carleton did not get in, they were much better than Macalester on Saturday and very unfortunate not to win.
Seems fair. I think St. Olaf was the better team. I’m sure those selecting teams looked at the game between STO and CAR to determine who they would invite.
I think your right Zlatan that they most likely looked at the game, but what about winning the conference or making it one game deeper in the playoffs? Something just doesn’t seem right, but then again, we’ve all seen teams get into these tourneys that you question and other teams not included and you just scratch your head. I feel bad for the senior boys on that Carlton team. Thats a tough lesson with no real moral to learn except crap happens.
Seems fair with the Carleton/St. Olaf debate. 5 losses compared to 4. St Olaf wins head-to-head 2-0. St. Olaf had quality wins over Wartburg and UW-Osh Kosh. Carleton had a bad loss to North Central.
What really baffles me however is on the women’s side. How does St. Thomas get in?!? I thought for certain only 2 pool C teams would gets in from their region and if a 3rd got in it would be Wartburg. Without a doubt Concordia gets in and Macalester had moved up to 2nd in the NCAA regional rankings. Stevens Point is ranked 3rd and got and AQ. Wartburg is 4th and didn’t get in. St Thomas got in at 5th. Wartburg had a better record at 14-3-2 compared to St Thomas at 13-5-1. And Wartburg beat St Thomas 3-0!!! Just didn’t add up to me??
Any thoughts on that?
Worse yet, the Gopher women do not get in but Wisconsin and Purdue do. Teams they beat head to head. That one baffles me!!
Nationally, was the women’s side that bad that they took St. Thomas and Mac too? I can understand Carleton and Concordia, but the other two? Personally I don’t believe that is deserved. But, I guess it happens.