SAINT PAUL, Minn. - In a match between the two top-scoring teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Carleton College women's soccer team played to a scoreless draw at St. Catherine University. With the result, the Knights clinched both a top-2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs.

"I'm super proud of our team," said Carleton head coach Jessica Mueller. "We battled from start to finish and created some great chances to score. St. Kate's is a great attacking team, and I thought we did well to minimize their chances in the run of play.

"We gave up too many corners and didn't capitalize on ours, which we'll need to improve moving into the post season. Our focus is already on Saturday. We want to finish strong heading into the playoffs."
 
Carleton (12-1-2, 8-0-2 MIAC) came into the match with a conference-best 39 goals on the season, good for fourth most in program history, while St. Catherine (10-4-3, 6-2-2 MIAC) and MIAC goals leader Amanda Elton sat at 38 entering play.
 
The Knights were all over the box score in the opening half, firing off 11 shots and taking five corner kicks, but Kate Praetz made six stops in net for the hosts to keep the game scoreless. The Wildcats themselves had seven shots, but the Carleton defense allowed just one of those to be on target, which was handled by Keya Mookencherry (So./Winnetka, Ill./New Trier).
 
In the second half, the dial was turned up to another degree. A Knights bench—which usually runs deep—saw just three substitutes come onto the pitch across the entire match, with nine Carleton players logging more than 70 minutes on the field. A lack of fresh legs did not prevent opportunities for either side however, as the teams almost reached their combined first half total of 18 shots. Again, timely defending and goalkeeping held the contest at a deadlock.

The Knights almost converted a clutch chance in the final minute, as Casey MacVeagh (Jr./Thetford, Vt./Thetford Academy) played a ball to Kathryn Kresse (Fy./Woodside, Calif./Crystal Springs Uplands School), but Praetz came out on top again with her 11th stop of the game.
 
Mookencherry herself made five saves in net, and picked up her fifth clean sheet of the campaign.
 
The final shot total for the pair of high-powered offenses was 34, with a slight 18-16 advantage for Carleton.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton still sits atop the MIAC ladder, but the draw allowed the College of Saint Benedict to gain ground with their own victory. The teams are separated by two points, and, as if it were scripted, are scheduled to face off on the final day of the regular season. Kickoff between the Knights and Bennies is at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Bell Field. With a win or draw, Carleton would secure their first MIAC regular season championship since 2010.