The Green Knights of St. Norbert may have played the final game on their home turf, coming in to help them say good bye were the undefeated Carroll University Pioneers. The match had been billed as the best the Midwest Conference has had to offer in the 2009 season.

The rivalry runs much deeper than just two talented Wisconsin teams or even two conference rivals. The majority of both teams could tell you stories of playing with and against their opposition through club play, indoor or from pick-up games. Furthering the rivalry; both schools take players from the other school’s respective areas: St. Norbert has seven players within 40 minutes of Carroll and Carroll has ten players within the same distance of St. Norbert.

Coming into the match Kim Deal did interviews with St. Norberts’ Ben Vanden Avond and Carroll’s Craig Carlson. Both showed a certain amount of admiration for the other and their school and more importantly, both picked their respective schools to win.
As the game started St. Norbert immediately took control, moving the ball around their midfield and into Carroll’s defense without much opposition. Two crosses were sent across Stanislaw Miaskowski’s goal area, neither of which found their mark on the other side. As the game progressed through the first half Carroll steadily gained back some possession and their share of shots but the Green Knights were clearly dominating the field.

Vanden Avond seemed to take the game personal. Every time the ball found his foot he would took it at the nearest defender forcing them into a decision. Sometimes, he would keep it but more often he would release the ball advancing forward seemingly at will. Norbert’s precision passing and countless shots through the first half could not have sat well with the struggling Pioneers. On one occasion, in the 25th minute, Senior All-Conference forward Adam Sanchez pulled the ball out of the air, firing a shot from 30 yards away. Catching Miaskowski off guard, Carroll’s goalkeeper could barely get his hands up before the ball dropped in behind him striking the cross bar with a ring that could have been heard from the far end of the parking lot. To Miaskowski’s surprise, as he turned around the ball had ricocheted off the ground right into waiting arms.

Although the shot was clearly a wakeup call, there was not much change in Carroll’s style of play. They continued to struggle in retaining possession, especially in their attacking third where they were missing both senior forwards Marc Heitpas and Andy Prentice. Despite attacking toward one of the muddiest penalty areas I have ever seen, St. Norbert defenders rarely had to worry about a Carroll attack since most of their attacks were stymied before they could even cross midfield. As the first half came to a close; St. Norbert held a 9-1 advantage in shots and nearly a 70-30 advantage in possession.

Entering the second half both teams knew that one goal would probably win the match. With the field being in the condition it was, it was almost as impossible to attack as it was to defend. One well placed ball could split a virtually immobile defense making for an easy shot on an equally immobile goal keeper.

Continuing their domination, St. Norbert had a shot from 25 yards out on an angle where again the ball hit the cross bar near the upper 90 of the goal. Minutes later another shot caromed off Miaskowski directly to the feet of Sanchez where the net was almost too wide open and Sanchez shot it wildly into the trees beyond the field. Continuing the barrage, Carroll encountered a five minute span where no one could get a clear or a clean tackle. Shots were coming from all angles with Miaskowski getting hand on virtually everything. One particular save took Miaskowski across his net getting little more than a finger to deflect the shot off of the post where it bounced back into the 18 yard area. Another shot was taken but blocked by full back Danny Pender, again the ball bounced through the 18 to the original shooter with an almost open goal. As the shot was placed down the middle of the net, Justin Ziegler came through on a slide that looked more like a hockey bock than a soccer tackle, taking the ball off of the end line where it was finally cleared by Pender.

As regulation came to a close Carroll knew they had narrowly escaped their first conference loss in two years by the skin of their teeth. While St. Norbert could not believe all 17 of their shots had been either denied or narrowly missed their mark.

Opening the first overtime, St. Norbert won the toss and elected to send a soaking Carroll defense back into their mud pit. Continuing the barrage, St. Norbert earned three more shots, all of which missed their mark. Both overtimes came and went without much to note aside from the frustration of the Green Knights. Knowing that they had little time to stick it to their greatest rivals, St. Norbert could not find the net.

As the second overtime ended there was a sense of relief on the Carroll sideline and an indescribable anger on the other. Fortunately for St. Norbert, if they beat Grinnell in the conference tournament and if Carroll wins their match against Beloit, they will meet again. This time with an NCAA tournament berth at stake.