CHICAGO, Ill. – The St. Olaf College men's soccer team takes on North Park University in the Sectional Round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Friday afternoon with a spot in the national quarterfinals on the line.
St. Olaf (19-2-1) returned to the "Sweet 16" for the second time in program history by shutting out Dominican University (Ill.) and Loras College last weekend at home. North Park (15-5-0) also hosted on the opening weekend of the tournament, advancing to the Sectional Round with a 4-2 win over Carleton and a 3-1 victory against Washington University in St. Louis.
Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19 at Stagg Field on the campus of the University of Chicago. The host Maroons will take on Calvin University in the second game of the day at 3:30 p.m. The winners of the two games on Friday will play at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20 for a spot in the national semifinals.
Fans can buy tickets at the field. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens (with ID), and $2 for children ages 2-13. Live video and live stats will also be available for fans unable to make the trip.
In the opening round, the Oles got goals from sophomores
Hakeem Morgan,
Victor Gaulmin, and
Casey McCloskey, who also assisted on the other two goals, on its way to a 3-0 win over Dominican. The next day, St. Olaf matched the deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history with a 4-0 win over Loras thanks to goals from Morgan, sophomore
Liam Vance, McCloskey, and sophomore
Martin Machon.
St. Olaf is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history (1984, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021) and its first since a run to the Sweet 16 in 2015. The Oles earned an at-large bid into the tournament after winning their seventh Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title by becoming the fifth team in conference history to go 10-0-0 during the regular season.
North Park also earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after being upset in the semifinals of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament by Wheaton College (Ill.). Like the Oles, the Vikings won all eight of their conference regular-season games, going 8-0-0 while outscoring their opponents, 34-4.
Friday's game will be the fourth-ever meeting between the two programs and all three previous meetings have been decided by one goal. North Park claimed the most recent head-to-head matchup, 1-0, in Chicago on Sept. 22, 2012. The first two meetings came in Northfield, with the Oles picking up a 2-1 victory on Sept. 5, 2010 after the Vikings won the first meeting, 2-1, on Sept. 10, 2000.
