ST. PAUL, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team won its 13th consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season game by blanking Macalester College by a 4-0 score on Saturday afternoon at Macalester Stadium.

St. Olaf (5-3-0, 3-0-0 MIAC) scored three times in the span of 16 minutes in the opening half and added a fourth goal in the second half to hand Macalester (2-3-3, 1-1-1 MIAC) its first conference loss of the season. Junior Casey McCloskey, sophomore Shea Bechtel, and junior Victor Gaulmin scored in the win for the Oles, who also benefitted from an own goal by the Scots.

The win was St. Olaf's third in a row and all three wins have been shutouts. The Oles returned to the United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings this week at No. 8 in Region IX. The 4-0 win is the largest margin of victory in the series for St. Olaf since a 4-0 win in Northfield on Oct. 13, 2012.

St. Olaf made the breakthrough midway through the opening half on McCloskey's first goal of the season. First year Ben Beckman and junior Jordan Oberholtzer earned assists on the opening goal, as Beckman slid in Oberholtzer near the right touchline and Oberholtzer squared the ball to McCloskey for a tap in. The assist was Beckman's first collegiate point.

Just over nine minutes later, the Oles doubled their lead when a corner kick from first year Robi Buzakovic hit off a Macalester defender in front and went into the net in the 33rd minute. Seven minutes after the own goal, Bechtel capped the three-goal first half, cutting inside from the left and picking out the far post after being picked out by junior Victor Gaulmin's cross-field ball.

Gaulmin added the lone goal of the second half on a 78th-minute penalty kick after Bechtel was taken down in the box. The goal was Gaulmin's second of the season and his first from the spot after converting four penalty kicks last season.

Junior Austin Williams earned his second-straight shutout with a four-save performance for St. Olaf, while Sam Price had two saves in the loss for Macalester. The Scots held a slender 13-12 advantage in shots in the game and shots on goal were 5-4 in favor of the Oles.

St. Olaf hosts the College of St. Scholastica on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. at Rolf Mellby Field.