ST. PETER, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team was defeated by a 2-1 margin by No. 8-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.

St. Olaf (9-5-0, 6-2-0 MIAC) trailed Gustavus (9-0-4, 6-0-1 MIAC) at halftime, 1-0, before getting a goal from junior Casey McCloskey in the 53rd minute to tie the game. The Gusties responded a little more than 10 minutes later on Owen Johnson's eventual game-winner to remain unbeaten this season and jump back to the top of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings.

Gustavus broke through with the game's opening goal in the 35th minute when Carlos Robles lashed the ball home shortly after a corner kick for the lone goal of the opening 45 minutes. The Gusties limited the Oles to two shots in the first half, including one shot on goal, which came from junior Hakeem Morgan on his return from injury.

Early in the second half, McCloskey pulled St. Olaf level, turning the ball home from in front after sophomore Shea Bechtel got past a Gustavus defender near the end line on the right and centered the ball to McCloskey. McCloskey has scored in six of the Oles' last seven games and is tied with classmate Victor Gaulmin for the MIAC lead with six goals in conference play this season.

Bechtel's assist was his team-leading 10th of the season, which is tied for the second-highest total in recorded program history with two-time All-American and St. Olaf Athletic Hall of Famer Kevin Jensen '00, who had 10 assists in 1999. Bechtel has five assists in his last three games and his eight assists in conference play are twice as many as any other student-athlete in the conference.

The game remained tied for just under 13 minutes before Johnson tucked the ball in off an assist from Clarence Weah, who broke away from a defender and squared the ball to Johnson for the game-winning goal. Three of St. Olaf's five losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top 10 at the time.

Both teams had six shots on goal in the game, although Gustavus held a slender 11-9 advantage in shots overall. Wesley Sanders picked up the win with a five-save afternoon for the hosts, while junior Austin Williams took the loss with four saves for the Oles.

St. Olaf once again faces one of the top teams in the region when it travels to take on UW-Platteville at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17.