St. Paul, Minn. – The Crown men's soccer team qualified for the UMAC postseason tournament this past weekend, despite a 2-0 loss at Northwestern on the final day of the regular season.  The Storm qualified fourth and will travel to St. Scholastica on Tuesday for the UMAC Semifinals.

The weekend started with a 3-0 win over North Central, a game that clinched a playoff spot heading into the season's final day.  Crown got goals from Sam Eckman, Josiah Steinkamp, and Derick Boese on the day and keeper Justin Lao recorded his second shutout of the season as the Storm defense allowed only two shots all afternoon.

At the end of the day Friday, Crown was in third place, with a large fixture against Northwestern looming Saturday.  A win or draw would have clinched third place, sending Crown to Morris on Tuesday, with a loss sending the Storm to Duluth to play the top seeded Saints.

Northwestern struck first, netting a goal in 14 minutes in, and the first half would end quietly with the home team leading 1-0.  The Eagles scored again on a header that deflected off a Crown defender off a corner kick an hour into the match.

Crown would only find a few chances on the evening, with Ger Jones firing one shot on goal, but the visitors could not muster any significant chances, falling 2-0.

The playoff berth is the third for the men's soccer program since 2009, but the Storm will have quite a task in front of them playing undefeated St. Scholastica in the conference semis.  The Saints have an 11-0 goal differential over Crown in two matches this season, and have outscored their opponents by 99 goals in 14 conference games. 

Kickoff for Tuesday's match is set for 2 p.m. in Duluth and fans can tune in online by clicking the link below.

Live Playoff Broadcast