Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157
GRINNELL, Iowa – After missing the Midwest Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament last season, St. Norbert College has earned the right to host this years’ tourney after winning the MWC regular season title. Knox College, Carroll University and Lake Forest College have all qualified for the four-team tournament and will be making the trip to De Pere this weekend.
Tournament Page
The Green Knights will entertain the Foresters in Friday’s first semifinal. The two clubs will meet for the second time in five days, as they played Sunday in what boiled down to being the regular season Midwest Conference championship match. St. Norbert earned a 3-2 road victory to claim the title.
The Green Knights finished 8-1-1 in MWC play and 11-5-2 overall. St. Norbert has been on a roll lately, winning five straight matches and haven’t suffered a defeat since they lost to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh back on September 30. Tyler Kassube has been the Green Knights’ top offensive threat and leads the team in goals (9), assists (8) and points (26). Kassube also scored the game-winning goal against Lake Forest last Sunday. Marco Delbechhi and Sam Lamers have also been dangerous, scoring seven and six goals, respectively. In goal, Eddie Sanchez has produced three shutouts and posted a 1.10 goals against average.
The Foresters lineup boasts the top point scorer in the conference in Dylan Hartman. The senior’s 11 goals are ranked second in the league and his 11 assists top the conference. The Foresters enter the postseason with a 12-6-0 overall record and a 7-3-0 mark in conference. John Cappuccitti also provides some punch to the offensive attack with nine goals. Ellis Rutili scored both of Lake Forest’s goals against St. Norbert on Sunday and has seven on the season. Josh Geiger has made just six start in goal, but has produced shutouts in three of them and sports a 0.97 goals against average in 650 minutes played.
Knox will meet Carroll in the second semifinal in a rematch of last year’s tournament title game. In their matchup earlier this season, the Prairie Fire defeated the Pioneers, 3-0, in Waukesha. Knox went 7-2-1 to earn the No. 2 seed and have a solid 12-2-3 overall record.
Nathaniel Logie, last season’s Offensive Player of the Year, leads the league in goals with 13 and has passed out four assists for 30 points. Abdulsalam Oganla has also been a force offensively for Knox with nine goals and eight assists. Charles Edemba, 2014’s Defensive Player of the Year, solidifies the defense along with first year starting goalkeeper Justin Dunn. Dunn has shutout four opponents this season, including Carroll, and has allowed just 13 goals in nearly 1,300 minutes.
The Pioneers will be the third seed for the second straight season after finishing 7-2-1 in conference, but have just an 8-8-2 mark overall. Last season’s defending tournament champions are led by Caden Pruitt, who leads the league in shots with 61 and the Pioneers with seven goals and 17 points. Brady Smith has started all but one in game in goals and is 8-6-2.
The winners of the two semifinals will meet at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday for the Midwest Conference Tournament Championship and the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.