Saturday Soccer showdowns provide inside track for NACC titles

MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's and Women's Soccer teams have had incredible success on the pitch this season. Both teams are ranked regionally and they enter Saturday with a combined 21-3-3 record, including an 11-1-0 mark in conference play.

Only one NACC school can rival what the Falcons soccer programs have done this season and that is Saturday's opponent, Dominican University. The Stars own a combined league mark of 12-0-2 and are currently in first place in both standings. Of course all that could change Saturday at Fitting Field as the winner of each contest has the inside track towards a regular season title.

#CUWStatsInfo breaks down some of the numbers you need to know for Saturday's tilts, the Men starting things off at 1:00 p.m., with the Women's match following at 3 p.m.

0 – We start on the women's side where the Stars and Falcons enter Saturday's matchup with unblemished league records. Dominican is 7-0-0 in conference matches, while the Falcons have played one less league match.

Another impressive zero that relates to the Women's Soccer team, the number of shots they have allowed in their past two contests. The Falcons goalkeepers haven't faced a shot in over 180 minutes, but that will certainly change on Saturday.

1 – The Women's team has been dominant in six league wins thus far, allowing just one goal in over 540 minutes of action. The one goal was scored by Benedictine as CUW has posted shutouts against Wisconsin Lutheran, MSOE, defending league champion Aurora, Edgewood and Alverno. Dominican has been pretty strong defensively as well, allowing just two goals in seven league contests.

3 – The Men's squad has been tough to score on as of last, posting three straight shutouts over their last three league contests. Senior Alec Brew (Appleton, Wis.) is in the midst of a 308 minute scoreless streak, having not given up a goal since the early portion of a 2-1 win over Aurora two weeks ago. Dominican has been an impressive defensive team as well this season, allowing just seven goals in 13 matches and one in seven league contests.

37 – The Falcons have been impressive offensively on both sides this season, with the Men leading the conference with 37 goals scored. They have scored 20 times in six league tilts, which is an average of 3.3 per contest, both numbers leading the NACC. Senior Keegan Van Dusseldorp (Burlington, Wis.) leads the way with 10 goals, while junior Jordan Moehn (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and freshman Dagoberto Diaz (Woodburn, Ore.) each have six scores.

40 – On the Women's side the Falcons have scored 40 times this season, including 25 in league play. Both numbers rank second in the NACC, behind only Dominican. Senior Carley Pfannerstill (Grafton, Wis.), who reached 50 career goals in Wednesday's win over Alverno, leads the way with 11 scores this season. Pfannerstill is also fourth in the NACC with 30 points. Dominican counters with Kelly Iovino, who ranks second in the NACC with 33 points, while Taylor Adler is third with 31 points, 19 of those coming in her past three contests. The Falcons have also gotten 20 points from freshman Kayla Schlosser (Germantown, Wis.) this season.

.857 – It is unknown who will start at goalkeeper for the Falcons on the women's side. Sophomore Tabitha Ortiz (Plainfield, Ill.) leads the NACC with a .857 save percentage as well as a 0.49 goals against average. Junior Ariana Worthing (Saginaw, Mich.) owns a 1.11 goals against average as well and was in net last season when the Falcons upended the Stars, 2-1.

.885 – We will see some very good goalkeepers in the Men's matchup as well as Brew and Gabriel Gongora are expected to battle across the pitch from one another. Brew leads the NACC with a .885 save percentage, with Gongora just behind at .857. Gongora holds the edge in goals against average at 0.53 compared to Brew's 0.56. One goal could very well be enough for either keeper on Saturday.

38 – If the numbers ahead didn't already explain how incredible Saturday's matchups will be, these final two numbers from last year's contests should certainly help. On Saturday, September 20 last season, the Falcons hosted the Stars in a doubleheader with the women's match starting first. In that contest senior Emily Ciesielczyk (Waukesha, Wis.) broke a 1-1 tie after a sprint up the left side for the game-winning score with 38 seconds remaining.

1 – If the Women's finish was exciting last season, the Men's was unforgettable. Dominican scored as time expired in overtime, with a call that could have went either way on whether the goal should have counted or not. No matter the final call, it was an incredible battle at Fitting Field, as was the Women's contest. Soccer fans can expect much of the same on Saturday, especially with the inside track to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championships and home-field advantage in the NACC Tournament on the line.