On Tap
Macalester takes a break from Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action tonight when its hosts St. Scholastica in a 7:30 p.m. match at Macalester Stadium. The Scots return to conference play, Saturday, when they host St. Olaf at 1 p.m.
 
Records
Macalester, 4-5-1 overall, 1-3-1 (4 pts) MIAC (tie 7th place)
St. Scholastica, 6-5-1 overall, 6-0-1 (19 pts) UMAC (1st place)
St. Olaf, 3-7-1 overall, 2-2-1 (7 pts) MIAC (6th place)
 
When Last We Met
St. Scholastica won its last meeting with Macalester, Aug. 31, 2012, 2-1, despite being outshot in the match, 20-8. The Scots lone goal came in the 57th minute from Margaret Nemetz.
 
Macalester defeated St. Olaf, 3-1, Oct. 12, 2013, when the two teams last met. St. Olaf scored in the 21st minute to take a 1-0 lead but Lydia Chodosh scored off a corner kick 12 minutes later and Bonnie Gale added the eventual game-winner in the 41st minute.
 
Last Week
Macalester suffered a pair of 1-0 losses last week, the first in double overtime to 13th-ranked Saint Benedict, Wednesday, before falling to Bethel, Saturday.
 
Wednesday's loss to the Blazers came when the visitors scored with just 14 seconds to play in the second overtime while Saturday's defeat occurred when the Royals scored a disputed goal in the game's 39th minute.
 
Following the Scots
With both matches at home this week, live video streaming and live stats can be found at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/macalester/.
 
She's the Boss
Michele Cornish is in her third year as the head women's soccer coach at Macalester College. The Scots returned to the MIAC playoffs and the conference championship game in 2013 after finishing second in the team standings under Cornish's leadership. 

A former Macalester assistant under John Leaney in 1991, Cornish was the head women's soccer coach at NCAA Division I North Carolina-Asheville from 1994 to 2010 and, in 2010-11, was the girls' soccer head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minn.

Cornish became head coach of the UNC-Asheville program in 1994 and, at the age of 26, was one of the youngest coaches in the nation upon her hiring. She quickly made an impact with the young program that was in its third year of existence.

In 1995, she led the Bulldogs to the Big South Conference championship and a school-record 16-5 mark. Asheville finished the season in second place in the league standings and advanced to the league title game for the first time.  Cornish led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Big South Conference regular-season titles in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, she guided Asheville to the Big South Conference title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. She finished her Bulldog career with 134 victories, making her not just the all-time winningest coach at UNC-Asheville, but the Big South, as well. Cornish led Asheville to the Big South Conference title game seven different times and was a two-time Big South Conference Coach of the Year.

As a student-athlete, she played at George Mason and was a member of the school's NCAA Division I national championship team in 1985. Prior to her college career, she was selected to the first U.S. representative women's soccer team to play in China, and was the team's youngest player and leading scorer during the tour.
 
In her 19th season as a collegiate head coach, Cornish has amassed a record 161-149-24 and is 27-16-3 in her third season at Macalester.
 
Did You Know?
Macalester's three-game losing streak is its longest since dropping three consecutive matches, Oct. 8-15, 2011, all of which were one-goal losses. The Scots dropped 2-1 decisions to Concordia and St. Thomas before falling, 1-0, to St. Olaf.
 
Midway Island
At the midpoint of the MIAC schedule, six teams have separated themselves and are in position to claim playoff spots in the newly-formatted conference playoffs. However, the race for those spots is far from over.
 
The league playoff schedule will now feature six teams instead of four and the Scots, at 1-3-1, are in a seventh-place tie. However, St. Olaf is three points ahead, in sixth place, and a win Saturday would put Macalester back in the running for a playoff berth.
 
Where They Stand
Nemetz is tied for third, overall, in assists among MIAC players with four.
 
Lily Jilk is one of two MIAC players to have scored on two penalty kicks this season.
 
Up Next
The Scots begin a three-game road trip next Wednesday, when they travel to Northfield, Minn., for a 4 p.m. match at Carleton, followed by next Saturday's 1 p.m. match in St. Peter, Minn., versus Gustavus Adolphus.