By Nate Wilson-Traisman

An early goal from Emily Bardwell ’11 proved just enough for Macalester Women’s soccer on Nov. 3 as they beat St. Thomas 1-0 in the semifinals of the MIAC playoffs.Bardwell scored just seven minutes into the match. The goal was her 14th of the season, the most since All-American Annie Borton scored 20 in 2004.

Rosie Glenn-Finer was spectacular in goal for the Scots, recording her fourth straight shutout while adding eight saves in the victory. Macalester was out-shot 19-7 in the match, but the Macalester defense proved stingy once again en route to its tenth shutout of the season.

Macalester will play No. 4 seed Carleton for the MIAC championship Saturday at Macalester Stadium. Carleton upset championship favorite and MIAC No. 1 seed Concordia, advancing on penalty kicks, 3-1. The winner of Saturday’s match will receive an automatic bid to the national tournament.

Carleton’s victory creates somewhat of a dilemma for the Scots: while it awards them a home game and saves them a six hour drive to Moorhead, Concordia (16-1-2) will most likely receive an at-large bid to nationals. Had Concordia received the conference’s automatic bid, Macalester (13-4-2) would have likely received an at-large bid in the event of a loss. Nevertheless, Macalester still controls its own destiny and they do so with a home game against a team they’ve already beaten, 1-0.

“Being home with all the fans here is so amazing that I definitely would choose playing at home over traveling four hours to Moorhead,” said Martha Coe ’11. ” I am confident we will win this Saturday and now we get to do it in front of everyone who comes our to support us.”

Saturday’s game will begin at 7:30 p.m.