NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 10-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team clinched the fourth outright Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title in program history with a 2-0 victory over Augsburg University on Tuesday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Olaf (15-1-1, 9-0-0 MIAC) entered the game with at least a share of the regular-season conference championship and got goals from first year Shea Bechtel and sophomore Victor Gaulmin to claim the title outright. Augsburg (12-5-0, 6-3-0 MIAC) also has secured a spot in next week's MIAC Playoffs but fell to fourth in the conference standings, three points behind both Carleton and Gustavus.

"I am really happy for all the guys on this team," said third-year head coach Travis Wall. "Whether it be our seniors who went through a coaching change, a change in culture and expectations, and stuck with it – or our other classes that all fully committed to a vision to rebuild this program back into a championship program. Only three short years ago, we were a 5-13 team that went 2-8 in the MIAC and the turnaround we have had is 100% credit to the guys who signed up wanting to get their hands dirty and rebuild Ole men's soccer."

The win also locked up the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs for St. Olaf with one regular-season game remaining. The Oles will have a bye into the semifinals and will host a semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

The title is the seventh overall MIAC regular-season title in program history for St. Olaf, which previously won championships in 1984, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2011, and 2014. The Oles' previous outright titles came in 1984, 1992, and 2014.

"I am really grateful to my immediate staff – Justin Oliver and Ben Braman – who have been with me since my first day on the job, as their help and perspectives have helped make today possible," Wall added. "I also owe a huge thank you to our athletic training staff, specifically Tyler Keith who goes above and beyond to keep us healthy, and our athletic director Ryan Bowles, who has enabled so much of this. St. Olaf and the community that surrounds Ole athletics is a special place and they've all made this day possible. We are looking forward to trying to achieve more this season."

With time winding down in the first half, Bechtel sent St. Olaf into the interval with a 1-0 lead by scoring his ninth goal of the season in the 44th minute. After sophomore Hakeem Morgan won a free kick on the right wing, he rolled the ball into the path of Bechtel near the top of the box and Bechtel took a touch before firing the ball home for his eighth goal in the last 10 games.

The score remained 1-0 until Gaulmin netted his eighth goal of the season in the 69th minute to give the Oles a two-goal cushion entering the final 20 minutes. After taking a short corner, sophomore Casey McCloskey laid the ball into the path of Gaulmin, who curled the ball into the top-right corner of the net from the top-left corner of the box.

Gaulmin's goal gave the sophomore either a goal or an assist in six-straight games. Morgan's assist on Bechtel's opening goal was his team-leading 31st point of the season.

The victory also extended St. Olaf's winning streak to 13 games in a row, which is the third-longest streak in program history. The Oles' 14-game unbeaten run (13-0-1) is now tied for the second-longest streak in a single season in program history and is tied for the third-longest run in the history of the program.

Sophomore Austin Williams made a career-high eight saves in his second shutout of the season for St. Olaf, while Oscar Herrera had five stops in the loss for Augsburg.

The Oles close out the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 30 at St. Schoalstica at 2 p.m. The Saints enter the game needing a win to have a chance at a playoff berth, as the sit two points behind sixth-place Saint John's entering the final day of the regular season.