NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After winning the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season championship outright, the top-seeded St. Olaf College men's soccer team hosts sixth-seeded Saint John's University in the semifinals of the 2021 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Olaf (16-1-1, 10-0-0 MIAC) became just the fifth team to go through the MIAC regular season slate with a 10-0-0 record this season on its way to earning the top seed and a bye into the semifinals. The Oles will host sixth-seeded Saint John's (8-8-1, 4-6-0 MIAC) in the semifinals on Wednesday at 2 p.m. after the Johnnies upset third-seeded Gustavus by a 2-1 score in overtime in St. Peter in the quarterfinals on Monday.

Per MIAC policy, admission will be charged for all postseason games. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $2 for students. Children five and under will get in free. The St. Olaf athletic department will cover the cost for St. Olaf students who show their St. Olaf student ID at the table. Live video and live stats will also be available for those unable to attend.

The Oles captured the seventh MIAC regular-season championship in program history (1984, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2021) and the program's fourth outright title (1984, 1992, 2014, 2021) by winning all 10 of their conference games this season. St. Olaf clinched the title with a 2-0 victory over Augsburg last Tuesday before completing the regular season with a 1-0 win at St. Schlolastica on Saturday.

Head coach Travis Wall's team possesses the top-scoring offense and in the MIAC with 57 goals in 18 games this season, while also having the conference's stingiest defense by allowing just 17 goals in 18 games (0.92 GAA). On a national level, the Oles rank ninth in points (160), 10th in goals (57), 13th in assists (46) and goal differential (+40), 15th in points per game (8.89), and 16th in goals per game (3.17) and assists per game (2.56).

Sophomore Hakeem Morgan, first year Shea Bechtel, and sophomore Victor Gaulmin all rank in the top five in the conference in goals and points this season. Morgan is second in the MIAC in goals (11), assists (9), and points (31). Bechtel is third in goals (10) and points (26) and tied for fifth in assists (6), while ranking tied for third in the country in game-winning goals (6). Gaulmin is tied for third in assists (7), tied for fifth in goals (8), and fifth in points (23).

Sophomore Casey McCloskey has also pitched in with seven goals and four assists for St. Olaf, which has had 15 different goal scorers this season. Nineteen Oles have recorded at least one point this fall. Defensively, sophomore Austin Williams has started all 18 games in net, going 16-1-1 with a 0.95 goals-against average and .754 save percentage. Williams has four clean sheets to his credit and has been part of two more combined shutouts.

The Oles enter the postseason riding a 14-game winning streak and is unbeaten in its last 15 games (14-0-1) since suffering their only loss of the season to Colorado College on Sept. 10. Both streaks are the second-longest runs in program history and the longest since the 1999 season. St. Olaf is unbeaten in three games (2-0-1) against nationally-ranked teams this fall, defeating Carleton (3-1 on Oct. 2) and Gustavus (4-2 on Oct. 16) and tying UChicago (1-1 on Sept. 12) at home.

Entering the postseason, the Oles were ranked No. 12 in Tuesday's United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Men's Top 25, marking the fifth-straight week the program has earned a national ranking. St. Olaf peaked at a season-high No. 10 on Oct. 19 and Oct. 26 and remained atop the United Soccer Coaches regional rankings in Region IX again this week.

Saint John's got a pair of goals from senior Tommy Picka, including the 96th-minute game-winner in overtime, in Monday's quarterfinal victory at Gustavus. Picka opened the scoring in the 18th minute from the penalty spot before an own goal a little over four minutes later tied the game at 1-1 at halftime. The score remained tied until Picka struck again 5:40 into overtime to send the Johnnies to the semifinals.

Picka is the leading point-getter for Saint John's with 14 on four goals and six assists, while Matt D. Anderson and Ryan Erickson have chipped in with four goals and three assists apiece. Saint John's ranks ninth in the MIAC in goals per game (1.35) with 23 goals in 17 contests, but boasts the conference's third-best defense (1.02 GAA) after holding opponents to 18 goals in 17 games.

Bechtel scored the lone goal of the game in the 102nd minute to give the Oles a 1-0 double-overtime victory in the regular-season meeting between the two teams on Oct. 9 in Collegeville. The last three head-to-head matchups between the two programs – all held in Collegeville – have all been decided in double overtime.

St. Olaf is making its ninth appearance (2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021) in the MIAC Playoffs since the tournament began in 2003 and has a 6-6 record in the tournament. The Oles won MIAC Playoffs titles in both 2011 and 2015, winning the title as the No. 1 seed in 2011 and as the No. 4 seed in 2015. This year marks the third time St. Olaf has been the top seed in the tournament.

Saint John's is appearing in the MIAC Playoffs for the 11th time (2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021) overall, including qualifying in each of the last eight editions of the tournament. The Johnnies are 7-9 all-time in the tournament and won their lone tournament title in 2005 as the No. 3 seed.

Wednesday's game will be the third head-to-head matchup between the programs in the MIAC Playoffs, with all three games taking place in the semifinals. The fourth-seeded Johnnies upset the top-seeded Oles, 4-1, in Northfield in 2014 before fourth-seeded St. Olaf returned the favor with a 1-0 win over second-seeded Saint John's in Collegeville the following year.

The other semifinal on Wednesday will see fifth-seeded Macalester travel to second-seeded Carleton in a 2 p.m. kickoff across town. The Scots knocked off fourth-seeded Augsburg in Minneapolis by a 3-2 score on Monday evening. The highest remaining seed after Wednesday's semifinals will host the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.