Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – St. Norbert College has earned the right to host the 2017 Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Soccer Tournament after sharing the regular season title with Knox College. 

The Prairie Fire will open the tournament against No. 3 seed Grinnell College and the Green Knights will follow in a semifinal match with Monmouth College.  The winner of the four-team tournament will earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.   

St. Norbert earned the tournament’s top seed over Knox based on goal differential over the course of the MWC regular season after both teams posted 7-0-2 conference records.  Both top squads tied Lake Forest College during the regular season. 

Knox and Grinnell will meet at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow to start the tournament.  The Prairie Fire needed double overtime to defeat the Pioneers, but walked away with a 2-1 victory on October 7.  After a scoreless first half, the Pioneers’ Francesca Varias banged in a corner kick from Shaina Zarkin-Scott to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.  Jessica Petersen knotted the score at one in the 71^st minute on a breakaway and ended the game in the 109^th minute on a pass from Angelica Gamez. 

The goal that was yielded to Varias was the only goal Knox allowed during conference play and the last one it allowed.  The Prairie Fire are on a scoreless string of 547:40.  For the season, the Prairie Fire defense has allowed just 12 goals, while Sierra Daniger has allowed just two.  As a team, Knox has a 0.61 goals against average.  Offensively, Petersen, Alex Robertson and Corina Leyva have combined for 18 goals and five assists, while Rodriguez leads the team with six assists.  Knox is seeking its second consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament. 

The Pioneers enter the tournament with four victories in their last five matches.  Valencia Alvarez, Varias and Simona Bambi lead a balanced offense for Grinnell.  All three players have six goals to their credit this fall, while Jordan Maddaus, the reigning MWC Performer of the Week has five markers.  Alvarez also leads the team in assists with Varias and Maddaus have four apiece.  Regan Kasprak has played the majority of the minutes in goal and sports a 73.8 save percentage to go with five shutouts. 

Grinnell is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance since it made back-to-back appearances in 2005-06. 

The Fighting Scots are making their first MWC Tournament appearance since the 2013 season and with two victories could achieve its first-ever spot in the NCAA Tournament. 

Way back on September 24, St. Norbert earned a 2-1 road victory over Monmouth.  Madalyn Sanderfoot opened the scoring in the 19^th minute on a pass from Dana Schwab, but the hosts answered just 54 seconds into the second half on a goal by Alex Izquierdo.  Three minutes later, Schwab and Sanderfoot hooked up again, with Schwab scoring this time, and the Green Knights hung on to earn the win. 

Monmouth’s Kara-Jade Gordon is one of the top players in the conference.  Just a sophomore, Gordon was a Second Team All-MWC pick last year as a freshman and has scored 12 goals this fall, which is good for third in the league.  She also ranks fourth in the conference in points after adding six a league-best six assists.  Hannah Kugler and Jacie Reis aid the Monmouth offensive effort.  Kugler has scored eight times this season, while Reis has added seven tallies.  As a team, the Fighting Scots rank second in the league in shots (345), points (126), and goals (47).  The defense is also solid and has allowed just 22 goals all season.  Kensey Arlt has produced an 8-4 record in goal this season, while saving 81.7 percent of shots and totaling a 1.07 goals against average. 

The Green Knights lead the conference in points (134) and goals (47) and are boosted by Schwab and Sanderfoot, who rank 1-2, respectively, in points this season.  Schwab has scored 14 times this fall, while Sanderfoot has added 13 goals.  Sanderfoot also has a conference-best six assists with Schwab adding five more.  Junior Monica Stephans has earned First Team All-MWC honors in her first two season in De Pere and has scored seven times with four assists this season.  Defensively, Ally Magiera has shut out nine opponents this season and has a goals against average of 1.22. 

St. Norbert is seeking its first MWC Tournament title since 2013.