After the Covid-19 Pandemic, Carleton participated in the 2021 Winter Nationals series, but was disqualified partially through the first game due to the reporting of a positive Covid-19 case.
The Northwoods Conference Championships were held on Carleton's campus, and CUT put on a show for the hometown crowd, winning the tournament.
With a promising 2016 postseason, a strong nucleus of returning talent, and the top recruiting class in the country, CUT entered 2017 as Ultiworld's #2 power-ranked team.
The team's Sunday woes continued at Stanford Invite and Easterns, at which CUT performed well in pool play, but lost in quarters to Oregon and UMass, respectively.
Saturday at Northwoods conferences felt like a foregone conclusion, with CUT and rivals Minnesota making light work of their competition to set up a classic matchup in finals on Sunday morning.
The plush fields of Blaine, MN provided a prime setting for the 3-bid North Central Regionals, at which Carleton maintained their winning streak against Wisconsin, but fell in the finals to Minnesota on a lengthy universe point.
The matchup against top-seeded UMass lived up to its billing, going to universe point, where Carleton's offense had two goals called back before punching in the third attempt for a 15-14 win.
CUT failed to reach Nationals after getting upset by Iowa State ISUC in the regionals semis and then losing to Wisconsin in the 3rd place Game to Go.
With 6 years worth of players on the team, CUT was looking very strong for nationals in the winter of 2021, boasting an impressively large 42-player roster.
After going up against UNC Wilmington 4-1, however, the game was called to a halt by observers, who reported that a player on CUT had announced a positive Covid-19 test, likely Omicron, since December 2021 was the beginning of that wave.
The players were transporting themselves in a sport-utility vehicle which lost control on a snow-covered road and was turned sideways into the path of a semitrailer truck.