NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A pair of second-half goals from senior Tessa Anderson and a fourth-straight shutout sent the St. Olaf College women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Concordia-Moorhead that clinched the Oles a playoff spot on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Olaf (8-5-1, 6-2-1 MIAC) entered the day needing a win over Concordia (4-9-2, 1-6-2 MIAC) and some help to clinch a playoff spot and got exactly what it needed to book its spot in the six-team field for the first time since 2018. On her Senior Day, Anderson scored twice in the space of just over four minutes in the second half to lift the Oles to the win.

After the game, St. Olaf celebrated its seven-member senior class of Anderson, Grace Sprangers, Mae Guetschow, Rachel Tanner, Salem Birkholz, Zoe Jeske, and Lily Hanlon and their families on the field. The win secured the Oles' sixth appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs, as St. Olaf previously appeared in the tournament in 2004, 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2018.

It took over an hour for the Oles to break through despite St. Olaf outshooting Concordia by a 13-6 margin in the opening half. Anderson provided the breakthrough in the 61st minute, as she pounced on a loose ball in the Cobbers' box after a Concordia defender's attempted clearance to the sideline ricocheted off sophomore Sadie Klassen and fell for Anderson to finish off.

Just over four minutes later, Anderson doubled her tally and St. Olaf's lead, robbing the ball off a Concordia defender before sending a left-footed shot to the bottom-right corner of the goal from the corner of the six-yard box on the left. Anderson's two-goal afternoon brought her season total to seven goals, all of which have come in the Oles' last eight games.

The two goals also moved Anderson into the top 10 in program history in goals with 22 for her career, drawing her even with Kaia Knutson '06 in a tie for ninth. She also broke into the top 10 in career points after raising her total to 51, which is 10th in program history.

St. Olaf's defense took care of the rest, limiting the Cobbers to eight shots and two shots on goal in the game to record its fourth-straight shutout. Junior Maddie Black stopped the only two shots she faced over the opening 85-plus minutes before Sprangers played the final four-plus minutes to finish off the clean sheet.

The Oles visit Augsburg University on Tuesday, Oct. 25 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff in Minneapolis.