NORTHFIELD, Minn. –
Folarin Bandele collected two goals and
Farid Sani added one as the St. Olaf College men's soccer team shut out Minnesota Morris 3-0 in a non-conference contest Tuesday afternoon.
In the 43rd minute of play, Sani broke the deadlock after stealing the ball from a Minnesota Morris (6-10-3) defender and shooting the ball just outside the box in the middle of the field, sending the it to the back left corner of the goal, which accounted for the only goal of the half, giving St. Olaf (5-12-0) a 1-0 lead.
Senior goalkeeper
Ben Westermeyer registered his first-career assist after punting the ball deep into Minnesota Morris territory and finding Bandele, who laid it in from the right side, to double St. Olaf's score in the 56th minute.
Bandele scored just 12 minutes later when
Olaf Morkeberg found Sani on the left side of the box and Sani shot the ball through Cougar goalkeeper Jake Peterson's hands resulting in a rebound from Bandele, knocking it to the back right side as Sani and Morkeberg both collected assists on the play. Bandele posted two goals in one game for the first time in his career.
The Cougars had a chance to take the lead early in the first half when the Oles committed a foul just outside the box, resulting in a free kick for Minnesota Morris, but the Cougars were unable to convert.
Midway through the first half, St. Olaf had back-to-back chances to take the lead with shots from
Thierno Gueye and
Josh King-Nobles, but Peterson came up with two saves to keep the score 0-0.
St. Olaf out-shot the Cougars 25-6, including 15 shots on goal compared to just two from the Cougars. Gueye posted seven shots and three on goal, Bandele recorded four shots and two on goal and Morkeberg added three shots, two on goal and one assist.
The Oles extend the all-time record with Minnesota Morris to 3-0, making this the second shutout for St. Olaf over the Cougars and the third shutout of the season, including victories over Bethany Lutheran (4-0) and Bethel (2-0).
St. Olaf is back to action Saturday, Oct. 27 at 3:30 p.m. as they host Augsburg in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) contest and celebrate Senior Day.
