This afternoon, Sterling hosts the McPherson Bulldogs in a game that is crucial to both team's efforts to secure a spot in the upcoming conference playoffs.
Entering today's conference games, Ottawa has 5 wins, McPherson, Tabor and Sterling have 4 wins each, and Friends and Bethel have 3 wins. I favor Ottawa to pick up win 6, Tabor lost yesterday and Friends and Bethel are favored to get their 4th wins. If the games go as predicted, the winner of McPherson/Sterling will move into third place with a 5th win, while the loser will drop down into an expected four-way tie with Tabor, Friends and Bethel. That would mean four teams tied for three playoff spots with only one game remaining for Tabor, Bethel and Sterling, and two games for Friends.
Last year, Sterling and McPherson tied in the regular season 1-1 in 2 OTs. Mladen Bjelica scored from a Wes Tom assist. The teams met a week later in the playoffs and again were tied 1-1 after 2 OTs. Again, Sterling scored early on a Justin Martens goal from Jordan Miller, but McPherson equalized in the second half and then won a shootout 4-2 to advance in the conference playoffs. In both 2005 and 2006, McPherson won 2-0.
In non-conference play, the two schools have similar results: both lost to Mid America Christian (although Sterling also defeated MACU), and both beat Southwest Assemblies of God, Manhattan Christian and Central Christian.
No current player on Sterling's roster has been involved in defeating McPherson, although the matchups have gone from two 2-0 losses to two 1-1 ties last year. This would be a great time for Sterling to break through with a win over McPherson.
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