WINONA, Minn. – First-half goals from sophomore Victor Gaulmin and first year Shea Bechtel were enough to give the No. 17-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team a 2-1 road victory over Saint Mary's University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Wednesday evening at Ochrymowycz Field.

Gaulmin and Bechtel scored just over four minutes apart in the opening half to provide enough of a cushion for St. Olaf (11-1-1, 6-0-0 MIAC) to extend its winning streak to nine games and its unbeaten streak to 10 games (9-0-1). Saint Mary's (3-10-0, 0-7-0 MIAC) got a goal from Eli Szymanski in the 61st minute to halve its deficit, but mustered just one shot on goal over the remainder of the game.

Gaulmin netted his third penalty kick of the fall – his fifth goal of the season – in the 23rd minute to open the scoring after he was taken down in the box by the Cardinals' goalkeeper to give the Oles the lead midway through the first half.

Just over four minutes later, Bechtel doubled St. Olaf's lead with his seventh goal of the season, getting on the end of a long ball forward before cutting in from the left and sliding a shot into the lower-left corner of the net. The goal marked Bechtel's fourth-straight game with an assist as he became the second Ole to score in four consecutive games this season along with sophomore Casey McCloskey, who did so from Sept. 15-25. Prior to this fall, the last Ole to score in four games in a row was Jens Undlin '16, who scored in each of the final five games of the 2014 season.

St. Olaf took a 2-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Saint Mary's by an 11-0 margin in the opening 45 minutes. The Cardinals got the lone goal of the second half from Szymanski with just under a half hour remaining but were unable to muster a second goal as the Oles won their 15th consecutive game in the series.

The lone save sophomore Austin Williams made in the game came in the 86th minute to thwart Diego Rivera's effort from the right side of the box. Williams picked up his 11th win of the season for the Oles, who outshot the Cardinals by a 14-3 margin in the game. Daniel Sessler suffered the loss despite making five saves for the hosts.

St. Olaf's 11-1-1 start to a season and 6-0-0 start to conference play are the program's best since 1999, while the nine-game winning streak and 10-game unbeaten streaks are the longest since the same year. The Oles have won all five of their road games this season, marking the program's first five-game road winning streak since 2013.

In a matchup of top-20 teams, St. Olaf hosts No. 20 Gustavus on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. at Rolf Mellby Field.