NORTHFIELD, Minn. –The No. 11-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team rolled to a 7-1 victory over UW-Superior in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.
Sophomore
Caspar Olseth scored twice, junior
Shea Bechtel had a goal and two assists, and senior
Jordan Oberholtzer picked up a goal and an assist to lead the seven-goal outburst for St. Olaf (15-3-3). The Oles limited a UW-Superior (17-4-2) team that ranked in the top 10 in the country in scoring offense entering the game to a single goal on a penalty kick in the win.
With the win, St. Olaf improved to 9-8-1 all-time in its 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the second round for the sixth time in its last seven berths in the national tournament. The Oles' reward is a rematch with crosstown-rival and No. 12-ranked Carleton College in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. after the Knights eliminated No. 14-ranked Pacific Lutheran by a 4-1 margin in penalty kicks following a 0-0 tie in the second game of the day.
St. Olaf surged out to a two-goal lead inside the first 19 minutes of the game behind an early goal and an assist from Bechtel. Just over 10 minutes in, the junior set up Olseth's first goal of the game, as Bechtel sent a low cross in from the left side the Olseth turned in in front. Less than eight minutes later, Bechtel slotted the ball home for his ninth goal of the season after being slipped in by Oberholtzer.
UW-Superior halved its deficit on a penalty kick by Josh Bellamy in the 21st minute after junior
Peter Forseth took down a Yellowjacket attacker after a mistake at the back for the Oles. St. Olaf got the goal back less than a minute later, however, when senior
Casey McCloskey cut past a pair of defenders at the top of the box and fired home a left-footed shot to restore the Oles' two-goal advantage.
Olseth rose to head in a corner kick by senior
Hakeem Morgan 10 minutes later to give St. Olaf a 4-1 halftime lead. The two-goal game was the second of Olseth's career, as he also netted a pair of goals in an 8-1 first-round victory over Lake Forest College in the NCAA Tournament last season.
St. Olaf tacked on three goals in the second half to complete the six-goal margin of victory. Bechtel returned the favor to Oberholtzer 10 minutes into the second half for Oberholtzer's third goal of the season and the score remained 5-1 until the final seven minutes. First year
Michael Nelson netted his second goal of the season in the 84th minute before senior
Liam Vance curled home a free kick with two minutes to go for his first of the year.
The Oles enjoyed a 25-8 advantage in shots in the game, including a 14-3 edge in shots on goal. The game featured a combined 13 yellow cards, with the Yellowjackets picking up nine of the 13.
Bechtel's four-point performance brought his career total to 91 points, moving him up into second place in program history, trailing only the 96-point total of John Zietlow '11. The junior's goal moved him level with Morgan for seventh in program history with 29 for his career, while the two assists brought him within one of Zietlow's record of 33.
The victory also extended St. Olaf's unbeaten streak to 17 games (14-0-3), which is the longest such streak in program history, breaking a pair of 16-game runs in 1999 and 2021.
