MWC Tournament

GRINNELL, Iowa – If there was ever a time to be peaking, the Grinnell College men's soccer team has found it.
 
The Pioneers enter the 2021 Midwest Conference Tournament playing their best soccer of the season in recent weeks, a stretch that includes four wins in a row and six victories in their last seven outings. The lone loss in that span was a 1-0 overtime setback to St. Olaf College, a squad currently ranked 12^th in the nation. That timeframe also included a 4-1 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, ranked regionally at the time.
 
Grinnell enters the MWC Tourney as the No. 3 seed with a 6-2 mark in league play and 11-7 overall record. The Pioneers face No. 2 seed Cornell College, 7-1 in the MWC and 14-3 in all games. The squads meet at 2 p.m. Friday at Galesburg High School's field.
 
The Pioneers have not only made their mark in the MWC, but the national scene as well. Jasper Yang '22 is tops in the nation in three categories – goals with 24, game-winning goals with eight and total points with 54. He is third and fourth nationally, and first in the MWC, in goals per game (1.33) and points per game (3.00).
 
Yang also leads the MWC in shot accuracy (.676), shots per game (4.11) and shots on goal per game (2.78). He is seventh nationally in shots on goal per game and 12^th in shot accuracy.
 
Ray Goedeker '22 leads the league in total assists with nine and assists per game at 0.56. He is 27^th nationally in both categories.
 
Dylan Maddux '25 and Yang are second and fourth in the MWC in total assists with seven and six, respectively.
 
In goal keeping, Carter Benson '24 leads the league in minutes played and ranks third in saves (75) and fourth in goals against average (1.46) and saves percentage (0.76).
 
Grinnell's shot accuracy has been nothing short of amazing all season. The team's percentage of .597 is sixth in the nation and leads the MWC. Other categories in which the Pioneers lead the MWC, with their national rankings in parentheses, include:
 
*Total assists, 42 (22^nd)
*Total points, 138 (25^th)
*Assists per game, 2.33 (28^th)
*Total goals, 48 (31^st)
*Points per game, 7.67 (36^th)
*Scoring offense, 2.67 (40^th)
*Shots on goal per game, 8.22 (53^rd)
 
Grinnell's marks for points, assists and assists per game this season are school records, as are Yang's points and game-winning goals.
 
Friday's winner will face either Knox College or Lawrence University for the tourney title and automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.