Men move on to semifinals, national tournament bid on the line     By Adriane Dougherty It’s been a solid week for the Mustangs as they move on to the semifinals of the GPAC Post-Season tournament after defeating Briar Cliff 2-0 for the first time since 2006. However, Morningside earned the number three seed in the GPAC after defeating Hastings College 1-0 in the last game of the regular season last Saturday. Hastings had previously been undefeated in the conference, but Hogan Cemper made sure that wouldn’t be the case when he took a pass from teammate Matt Witt and sent a lofter over the hands of Hastings goalkeeper Mike Thompson for the only score of the game with less than a minute to play. With the win, sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Whithorn earned GPAC honors for the second time this season for his efforts in the week of October 26 through November 2. Whithorn came up with his fifth and sixth shutouts of the season with the wins against Hastings and Briar Cliff. He came up with five saves in the Hastings triumph and picked up another save in the Charger win. Cemper again found himself being the scoring threat in the quarterfinal of the GPAC Post-Season tournament on Tuesday night at Olsen Stadium. He scored two second half goals to hand Briar Cliff their third consecutive loss and leave them with a 9-9 record overall. Cameron Meter helped set up Cemper’s first goal at the 75-minute mark when he beat Charger goalkeeper Buddy Goodenkauf on a low driven shot to the right corner of the goal. Cemper’s second goal was unassisted and came just six minutes later to give the Mustangs the 2-0 win. With a national tournament berth on the line, the Mustangs will prepare for the Warriors of Midland Lutheran College this Saturday at 3p.m. at Olsen Stadium. Morningside defeated Midland Lutheran in convincing fashion earlier this season, 3-1, on goals by Rick Kievits and Jeremy Lenz. Kievits picked up two goals in the feat en route to GPAC honors. Matt Mayfield picked up the slack for Whithorn, coming up with four saves and only allowing one goal in 90 minutes of action. Last season, the Mustangs picked up a 2-1-overtime victory against the Warriors in the first round of play-offs before dropping a 3-1 decision to Hastings College in the semifinals. The Mustangs lead the all-time series against the Warriors with eight wins and three losses. The last time the Warriors beat the Mustangs was in 2007. If the Mustangs pull off the win this Saturday and Hastings beats Doane College on the other end of the semifinals, Morningside will earn the bid to the 2009 National Tournament held in Fresno, California, regardless of if they win in the finals or not. The GPAC sends two teams from both the women and men’s leagues as the conference holds 12 NAIA teams, respectively. The two teams who earn bids are chosen by conference champion and who wins the post-season tournament. If the team is the same in both categories, then the runner-up of the post-season tournament earns the berth. (Nov. 5)       Sports Home