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Ripon, Wis. - Ripon College, Carroll University, Grinnell College and Lawrence University have all earned a trip to the 2010 Midwest Conference Soccer Tournament which will take place November 5-6 in Ripon, Wis. The tournament winner will earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Ripon enters the tournament after winning their first regular season title since 2000, going 8-1 in league play. Carroll aims to bounce back after playing in three straight tournament title games from 2006-2008. After defeating Beloit in the 2009 MWC Tournament Grinnell looks for a repeat performance in 2010 while Lawrence is playing for its first tournament championship in school history. On Friday Carroll will take on Grinnell at 11 a.m. and Ripon will host Lawrence at 1:30 p.m. The winners will face off Saturday at noon where the winner will advance to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament which starts November 11.
Ripon (11-6-1, 8-1-0 MWC) Head Coach Lance Gordon brings the Red Hawks to the MWC Tournament fresh off their first regular season championship since 2000. Senior Kevin Cederholm is one of three double digit point scorers this year for Ripon, scoring a team-high 10 goals (5 game winning) and setting up five goals. Fellow senior Zach Hershoff (4 goals, 8 assists) and sophomore Alvaro Calle (2 goals, 8 assists) also have been key contributors on the offensive end. Cederholm tops all players in conference play with 16 points (7 goals, 2 assists), averaging 1.78 points per game. Ripon enters the tournament among the league leaders in assists with 39 in 18 games. Sophomore keeper Adam Haefner comes into the tournament leading the MWC in goals against average (0.75) and has gave up only 11 goals in 15 contests this season.
Rick Mobley has Carroll (10-6-1, 8-1-0 MWC) in the tournament in search of their third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last four years. Carroll enters the tournament supporting the best defensive unit in the four team field. The Pioneers have allowed a league-low 21 goals this season, an average of 1.24 a game. Senior Marc Hietpas leads a Carroll offense as he found the back of the net 10 times, good for third in the conference, and tallied 24 points on the season. Sophomore Andy Ksobiech scored five goals for the Pioneers which includes four game winning goals. Junior Steve Koprowski leads the team with five assists while freshman goalkeeper Tomek Miaskowski supports a 1.09 goals against average, good for second in the conference. Miakowski has also only surrendered five goals in conference play for a miniscule 0.56 goals against average.
Grinnell (9-6-2, 7-2-0 MWC) enters the tournament under seventh year Head Coach Brian Jaworski a year after winning a double overtime thriller to earn a spot in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Jaworski returns senior Mark Rosenberg who ranks second in the conference with 27 points (10 goals, 7 assists) in 17 games played. Rosenberg was the only Pioneer to score double digit points this season, which includes three game winning goals. Grinnell’s stingy defense has helped them earn a conference high eight shutouts this season, six of them in conference play. Grinnell was tied for second in the regular season with only 22 goals allowed, seven in conference play. Junior Greg Fox earned all eight shutouts during the regular season for the Pioneers and held a 1.28 goals against average.
Blake Johnson’s Lawrence (9-7-1, 6-3-0 MWC) squad crashed the tournament party after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll. Seniors Bennett Pang and Jared Padway give the Vikings a solid scoring tandem. Pang has scored six goals, and Padway has chipped in four while having five game-winning goals between them. Junior Steven Exarhos also reached double figures in points this season with 11 (three goals, five assists). Freshman Steve Solomon mans the net for Lawrence, finishing the regular season with a 1.31 goals against average, good for fifth in the conference. Solomon has also pitched two shutouts this season and averages 4.14 saves per game in conference play.
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