MIAC Notebook - Oct. 5, 2011

Every week the MIAC puts out a weekly notebook that details all the top highlights from the conference teams the past week. Also featured are the top five stories from the conference. This week’s top five includes the Cobber volleyball team’s rise back into the top 10

Check out this week’s edition of the MIAC Notebook:

MIAC Notebook – Oct. 5, 2011

Top 5 MIAC Stories

St. Thomas men, St. Olaf women claim 2011 MIAC Golf Titles
A picture-perfect weekend for golf set the stage for the MIAC’s first championship event of the 2010-11 season, and the 2011 MIAC Golf Championships certainly didn’t disappoint with a record-setting team performance on the women’s side, a close race that came down to the final holes on the men’s side, and a number of terrific individual performances.

The St. Olaf women’s team unseated three-time defending champion Gustavus by setting MIAC Championship records for 18-, 36-, and 54-hole team scores. The Oles carded a 309 for their first 18 holes and 319 over 36 holes to break each record, then they obliterated the 54-hole record by 28 shots with a final score of 939. St. Olaf’s Vanessa Kleckner won individual medalist honors and headlined the 10-player All-Conference team, which featured four Oles.

The St. Thomas men won their first MIAC title since 1980 by shooting a three-day total of 897 to edge Gustavus (901) and three-time defending champ Saint John’s (902). Tommie freshman Alex Karpaun and St. Olaf senior Justin Volling tied for individual medalist honors by each shooting a 5-over-par 221 over the 54 holes. The duo headlined the MIAC Men’s Golf All-Conference team, which recognized the Top 10 including ties, and was separated by just seven shots.

Wild football weekend in the MIAC
it was a wild weekend for football in the MIAC that featured a top-five upset, a record crowd and a record blowout at St. Thomas and Augsburg coming back to remain among the ranks of the unbeaten.

Dan Dobson’s 335-yard passing performance helped St. Olaf complete a 20-point fourth quarter rally to defeat No. 5 Bethel University on Saturday. Trailing 28-10 early in the fourth, Dobson engineered three straight scoring drives as the Oles won in Arden Hills for the first time since 1992. He was 10-for-13 for 188 yards in the fourth quarter, including an 82-yard TD strike that brought the Oles within five points. He also rushed for two TDs in the game, including the game-winning one-yard plunge with 25 seconds left.

St. Thomas football broke a 29-year-old stadium record for attendance last Saturday as 10,421 came out to watch the Tommies’ 63-7 win over archrival St. John’s. The 63 points tied a modern record for points by a Tommie team, were the most UST has scored at O’Shaughnessy Stadium since 1929, and the most UST has ever scored at home against an MIAC opponent. QB Dakota Tracy threw five touchdown passes and the Tommies scored TDs on nine of their first 10 possessions. St. Thomas had 13 tackles-for-loss, including seven sacks. UST blocked a punt and returned it for a TD. Tim Albright tied a school record with nine PAT kicks and broke a school record for career PAT kicks, now at 85.

With a come-from-behind, 35-14 victory over Carleton on Saturday, Augsburg’s football team improved to 4-0 on the season, marking the third time that Augsburg has started a season 4-0 in school history. In the 1973 campaign, Augsburg started the season 5-0, and in 2008, the Auggies opened the season 4-0. It marks the fifth time in school history that Augsburg has been unbeaten after its first four games of the season; in addition to 1973 and 2008, Augsburg started 2-0-2 in 1928 and 3-0-1 in 1929. Augsburg hosts fellow unbeaten St. Thomas (5-0) this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.

Cobber volleyball back in the Top 10

The Cobber volleyball team cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top 10 for the second time this season. Following their sweep over nationally-ranked St. Thomas, Concordia jumped into the No.10 spot in the latest national rankings. Concordia is the top ranked team from the MIAC, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) or Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in this week’s national poll.

It is the second time in 2011 that the Cobbers have been ranked 10th in the Division III national poll. They climbed to No.10 on Sept. 20 but then fell back to the 12th spot last week after falling to Bethel 3-2. Concordia is 14-3 on the season in overall games and 3-1 in MIAC play. The Cobbers are currently tied for first place with four other teams in the league standings. Of the team’s 14 wins this year, six have come against nationally ranked opponents.

Second time the charm as Carleton’s Wills breaks scoring record

After scoring three times Tim Wills (Sr./Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) was named the MIAC Men’s Soccer Player-of-the Week. However, that honor pales in comparison to officially taking over as the Carleton College’s all-time leading scorer.

He scored twice in the Knights’ victory over Cornell College on Sunday, bringing his career total to 29 goals. He converted a penalty kick in the 13th minute, tying Bobby Phillips ’09 atop the scoring list. Wills then took over sole possession of the top spot on the chart with another score midway through the second half. Wills now owns the two most prestigious records in team annals, as he was already the all-time leader in assists with 29. Wills’ week began with tallying the game winner in 3-1 victory over pre-season co-favorite Macalester on Wednesday.

Auggie men’s soccer solid on defense

Augsburg’s men’s soccer team claimed its seventh shutout of the season on Sunday with a 3-0 victory at Wisconsin-Platteville. In building an 8-1-1 record so far this season, Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a 20-3 margin, and its 0.29 team goals-against-average is fourth-best among NCAA Division III teams in the latest national statistics rankings. Augsburg’s 0.7 shutouts-per-game average is ninth-best nationally. Sophomore goalkeepers Clayton Lynch (SO, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier HS) and Will Morlock (SO, Grand Haven, Mich.) have been solid, with Lynch netting four shutouts and a 0.32 goals-against-average in his six starts (nine shutouts in 14 career starts), and Morlock recording three shutouts and a 0.25 GAA in his four starts (11 shutouts in 18 career starts). Augsburg hosts Carleton this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.

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