NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Senior Victor Gaulmin scored a pair of penalty kicks as the No. 17-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team dealt UW-Platteville its first loss of the season by a 2-0 margin on Tuesday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

Gaulmin scored once from the spot in each half for St. Olaf (11-3-1), which handed UW-Platteville (10-1-4) its first loss of the season in a matchup of two of the top-three teams in this week's United Soccer Coaches Region IX Poll. The Oles were ranked No. 2 and the Pioneers No. 3 in the poll released earlier in the day on Tuesday.

The victory extended St. Olaf's unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1), which is tied for the fourth-longest run in program history, and maintained the Oles' unbeaten record (9-0-2) in the all-time series with UW-Platteville. St. Olaf jumped up six spots in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25, which was published during the game.

The two-goal performance brought Gaulmin's career goal total to 29, tying him with classmate Hakeem Morgan for sixth in program history, while the four-point afternoon saw the Frenchman move up to seventh all-time at St. Olaf with 78 points, passing Ben Clymer '03 (77 points).

St. Olaf took all 10 of the game's shots in the opening half and had 75 percent of the possession but were forced to wait until the 32nd minute to make the breakthrough. After junior Shea Bechtel was tripped from behind while cutting in on the left side of the box, Gaulmin scored from the spot for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Gaulmin added his second penalty kick of the game in the 60th minute after Bechtel was again taken down in the box, giving the senior midfielder four goals and five assists in the Oles' last three games. Gaulmin's two conversions left him 9-for-11 from the penalty spot in his career.

Bechtel and senior Casey McCloskey had chances to add to St. Olaf's cushion late on, but Seth Aiken got down to stop Bechtel's close-range shot after a mazy run in the 81st minute and used his six-foot, eight-inch frame to get a finger tip to McCloskey's shot moments later to get the ball out for a corner.

Aiken made seven saves in the loss for the Pioneers, while junior Peter Forseth had just one save to make in collecting his sixth shutout of the season and the 11th of his career. The 11 shutouts are tied for the sixth-highest total in program history. St. Olaf owned a 19-3 advantage in shots, including a 9-1 edge in shots on goal, and finished the game with 71 percent possession.

The Oles return to MIAC play with a road game against Saint John's University on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. St. Olaf and Carleton College are currently tied atop the MIAC standings with 19 points after the fourth-ranked Knights played to a scoreless tie at home against Augsburg University on Tuesday, although Carleton has played one more game.