WAVERLY, Iowa – The No. 2 seeded Wartburg College Knights (12-4-1 overall, 6-1-1 A-R-C) will welcome the No. 3 seed Luther College Norse (7-7-3, 6-2) to Waverly for the semifinal match of the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
 
Follow the Knights
For a live stream of the Knights' match vs. Luther, click here.
To follow live stats of the match, click here.  
 
The Series
The Knights and Norse have faced off a total of 37 times throughout their program's histories, with the Norse owning the series at a record of 26-10-1. The last meeting between the two programs came on Oct. 13 of this season, where the Knights pulled out a 1- 0 victory behind a Nicole Adair goal at the 28:39 mark of the first half. Wartburg has won four of its last six meetings with Luther.
 
Wartburg
Wartburg enters the semifinals match coming off of a first round bye after earning the conference's second seed. The Orange and Black own the conference's third most efficient offense at 43 goals scored in 17 contests, good for an average of 2.529 goals per game. Leading the way for the Knight's offense is senior forward Nicole Adair (Reinbeck) who leads the Knights in goals with nine. Trailing Adair in goals scored is senior Alyssa Drewelow (Cedar Rapids) and freshman forward Joy Smith (Polk City) with six apiece. Adair's six assists on the season lead the team and are good for seventh-overall in the conference.
 
Wartburg has been an offensively stout first half team, as they have scored 17 goals in comparison to their opponent's four in the first half of their matches. The Knights have continued that success into the second half of their matches, as they have scored 25 second-half goals in comparison to their opponents nine. The Orange and Black have attempted 339 shots compared to 198 from their opponents.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Marissa Lopez (Ankeny) leads the Knights under the net and has compiled a record of 10-2-1 with 59 saves and three shutouts in 1,093 minutes of play. Lopez owns a conference-low goals against average, only allowing eight in her 14 games played (.66). Additionally, Lopez's save percentage average (.881) leads the conference as well.
 
Luther
The Norse are coming into the matchup off of a 1-0 victory over No. 6 seed Coe College on Saturday. Luther owns the conference's seventh overall offense, scoring 18 goals in their 17 matches. Leading the way for the Norse is Marta Springer, who's seven goals leads the team and are good for eighth overall in the conference. Hanna Christopher trails Springer in goals scored, scoring five of her own to go with an assist for a total of 11 points on the season.
 
While Luther's offense hasn't had much production this season, their defense has done the heavy-lifting on the season as they own the second-best unit in the conference at 17 goals allowed in 17 matches. Goalkeeper Kennedy Bergren has complied 82 saves, good for an 83% save percentage, and has given up less than a goal a game (.94) in her 1,620 minutes of action. Bergren has compiled a record that nearly mirrors the record of the team at 7-7-2. Her seven shutouts this season lead the conference.
 
Luther is coached by Russ Schouweiler, who has coached the team for nine seasons and is searching for the program's sixth conference title in school history and its second title in three years (2016).
 
Playoff Implications
No. 1 seed Loras College will host No. 4 University of Dubuque in the other A-R-C semifinals match. The winner of the semifinals will go on to face one another in the Conference Championship match at the higher seeded school's home venue on Saturday, Nov. 3. The winner of the American Rivers Conference Tournament will earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA DIII National Tournament.
 
A-R-C Tournament Website

National Stat Rankings
Wartburg ranks in the top 100 of thirteen statistical categories, which the NCAA released Monday.
 
The Knights rank 13^th in shots per game (19.94), 14^th in won-lost-tied percentage (.735), 15^th in shots on goal per game (10.41), 15^th in scoring offense (2.53), 17^th in total goals (43), 20^th in save percentage (.839), 21^st in points per game (6.59), 21^st in goals against average (.858), 22^nd in total points (112), 25^th in shutout percentage (.412), 32^nd in total assists (26), 34^th in assists per game (1.53), and 85^th in saves per game (4.59).