NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Junior Farid Sani scored his first-career hat trick as the St. Olaf College men's soccer team downed Saint Mary's University (Minn.) by a 4-1 margin in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) matchup on Tuesday afternoon at a rainy Rolf Mellby Field.

Sani opened the scoring in the third minute and added a pair of goals in a three-goal second half for St. Olaf (6-4-0, 2-2-0 MIAC). Armin Jasenac brought Saint Mary's (4-5-0, 1-2-0 MIAC) level in the ninth minute before Sani and the Oles scored three goals in a 20-minute span in the second half.

Sani's hat trick was the first by an Ole since Kyle Leemon '18 scored all three goals in St. Olaf's 3-0 victory over Saint John's on Sept. 23, 2017. In addition to Sani's three goals, sophomore Lucas Gaulmin had three assists and senior Keith Loukas recorded a goal and an assist on the afternoon.

Just over two minutes into the game, Sani got the scoring started, touching the ball in in front of the goal after Loukas knocked down a free kick that Gaulmin put in the box from the left side.

The Cardinals came right back in the ninth minute when Jasenac volleyed the ball into the top-left corner after Robbie Sobczak headed down a Mateo Means free kick from the right wing.

Loukas netted the eventual game-winning goal, his second goal of the season, in the 55th minute, flicking a header in under the bar from a Thierno Gueye free kick on the right side. Less than five minutes later, Saint Mary's received a red card, giving the Oles a man advantage for the final 30-plus minutes. The 10-man Cardinals nearly tied the game in the 66th minute, but Hamza Osman made one of his two saves on the afternoon to deny Josh Balsiger from close range.

St. Olaf capitalized on the extra man with two goals from Sani in the space of 2:34 inside the final 20 minutes of the game. In the 71st minute, Sani made it 3-1 by tucking the ball inside the left post from the middle of the box after collecting passes from Gaulmin and Will Douglas.

Sani capped the scoring and completed his hat trick less than three minutes later by heading in a left-wing cross from Cole Beaton from the edge of the six-yard box after Gaulmin took a short corner back to Beaton.

Gaulmin's three assists on the afternoon brought his team-leading total to seven in nine games, while Sani's hat trick upped his team-best tally to five. Osman earned his sixth victory of the season with the two saves for the Oles, who outshot the Cardinals by a 19-5 margin in the game.

St. Olaf heads to Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday, Oct. 5 in a 1 p.m. kickoff in St. Peter.