NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's soccer team downed Martin Luther College, 2-1, in a non-conference contest in its season opener on Friday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Olaf (1-0-0) got goals from Thierno Gueye and Will Douglas less than 10 minutes apart in the second half and held on despite a late Martin Luther (0-1-0) goal by Dan Wessel. The Oles out-shot the the Knights by a 22-7 margin in the game.

After a scoreless first half, Gueye opened the scoring with a free kick from 30 yards out on the left that he bent across the goalie and in off the right post for the second goal of his young career in the 51st minute. A little over nine minutes later, sophomore Will Douglas scored his first collegiate goal, heading in a cross by classmate Farid Sani from the left wing to make it 2-0.

The score stayed 2-0 until the 79th minute, when Martin Luther got one goal back from Wessel. The Knights nearly found a tying goal in the final minute, but senior goalkeeper Ben Westermeyer made three saves in the final 10-plus minutes, including one in the final minute, to preserve the Oles' lead.

In the first half, St. Olaf out-shot Martin Luther, 11-1, but neither team was able to break the deadlock. Sophomore midfielder Lucas Gaulmin led the Oles with five shots in the game, while classmates Olaf Morkeberg and Josh King-Nobles each had four.

The game was St. Olaf's first on the newly-renovated turf surface at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Olaf takes the field on Saturday, Sept. 1 against the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in St. Paul, Minn. at 12 p.m.