Men's Soccer Tuesday, November 1, 2022 NWC Athletic Communications

Men's Soccer to Battle Midland in GPAC Quarterfinals

Raiders and Warriors tied 1-1 earlier this season

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – After earning the No. 4-seed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) tournament, the Northwestern men's soccer team (7-5-5, 6-2-3 GPAC) is set to take on the No. 5-seed in Midland (9-4-5, 5-3-3 GPAC) on Thursday night at the NWC Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.

REGULAR SEASON MEETING
Northwestern and Midland faced off on October 8 in Orange City, where the two teams played to a 1-1 draw. It was a defensive match in which the shorthanded Raiders used a second-half goal from Tim Kaltenberger (So., Cologne, Germany) on a free kick to tie it up. Thomas Moulder was the lone goal-scorer for Midland, scoring in the final minute of the first half. Kaltenberger led the way with five shot attempts, while Pablo Aspas (Jr., Valencia, Spain) picked up four saves in goal.

NORTHWESTERN NOTABLES

The Raiders were led in scoring this season by Niklas Fitter (So., Sankt Augustin, Germany) with eight goals. Fitter also led the team with 19 points.
Goalkeeper Ezekiel Foltz (Jr., Sioux Center, Iowa) picked up his 300^th career save on September 10, as he is now third in program history in career saves (341).
Foltz needs just one more scoreless match to take sole possession of first place for career shutouts.
Stan van den Beld (So., Voorhout, Netherlands) leads the team in assists (7).

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

Midland is one of three GPAC teams to allow less than one goal per game, with Hastings and Concordia (Neb.) being the other two.
The Warriors have only lost one game on the road this season, falling to Grand View (Iowa) on October 12.
Midland has a record of 4-0-1 over their last five matches.
Leading the Warriors in scoring is Patrick Long with five goals.
Goalkeeper Marco Moresco is leading the team in saves (40), although he splits time in net with Matthew Ricci.

RAIDERS IN THE POSTSEASON

Northwestern is coming off the heels of their first National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament bid, dropping a 1-0 overtime decision to Rio Grande (Ohio) last season.
The Raiders reached their first GPAC championship game last year, as Hastings defeated Northwestern 2-0.
All time, the Raiders have a postseason record of 13-22, 13-20 in the conference tournament.
Under head coach Dan Swier, Northwestern is 7-13 in postseason play, holding a 5-3 record in home GPAC tournament matches.
Swier has guided the Raiders to 11-straight GPAC tournament appearances (2011-22).

TICKET INFORMATION
Admission will be charged at the NWC Soccer Complex. There is not an advance ticketing option, all tickets are sold at the gate.

Adults will be charged $10, K-College students will be charged $3, and children under the Kindergarten age will have no charge. All GPAC students will receive free admittance to the matches with the showing of their institutional ID. All faculty and staff at GPAC schools will be required to pay for entry, per the conference office.

GPAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals – Thursday, November 3
No. 1-seed Hastings vs. No. 8-seed Mount Marty (7:00 PM, Hastings, Neb.)
No. 4-seed Northwestern vs. No. 5-seed Midland (7:00 PM, Orange City, Iowa)
No. 3-seed Dordt vs. No. 6-seed Morningside (5:00 PM, Sioux Center, Iowa)
No. 2-seed Concordia vs. No. 7-seed Briar Cliff (6:00 PM, Seward, Neb.)
Semifinals – Tuesday, November 8
Winner of Hastings/Mount Marty vs. Winner of Northwestern/Midland
Winner of Concordia/Briar Cliff vs. Winner of Dordt/Morningside
Championship – Friday, November 11
Semifinal winners at highest seed remaining

GAME INFORMATION
Thursday's match will be held at the NWC Soccer Complex on the campus of Northwestern College. For live stream, match notes, and live stats, visit nwcraiders.com or navigate to the links above.

The winner of the match will go on to face the winner of No. 1-seed Hastings and No. 8-seed Mount Marty on Tuesday, November 8 with the highest remaining seed hosting the match.

Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut

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