NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A 66th-minute goal from sophomore Robi Buzakovic sent the No. 11-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over crosstown-rival and No. 12-ranked Carleton College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

With the game still scoreless, Buzakovic drove a shot from 25 yards out that grazed the fingertips of the goalkeeper and went in off the inside of the post in the lower-left corner of the net for the lone goal of the game. The strike sent St. Olaf (16-3-3) back to the "Sweet 16" for the third-straight season, matching the program's deepest-ever run first accomplished in 2015, and gave the Oles their second 1-0 victory over Carleton (15-3-2) this season in the first meeting between the crosstown rivals in the NCAA Tournament.

St. Olaf will await the winner of the second-round encounter between UW-Platteville and UW-Eau Claire, which kicks off at 7 p.m. CST on Sunday evening, in the sectional semifinals. The Oles entered this season as one of five NCAA Division III men's soccer programs to appear in the "Sweet 16" in each of the last two seasons and the other four programs – the University of Chicago, Amherst College, SUNY Cortland, and Washington & Lee University – are all back among the last 16 teams standing.

Buzakovic's goal was just his third of the season and the eighth of his career, but five of his eight goals have come in the postseason. He previously scored St. Olaf's lone goal in the championship game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs this season and scored three times in the MIAC Playoffs last season, including both of the Oles' goals in the title game.

St. Olaf controlled the game from a statistical standpoint, outshooting Carleton by counts of 19-4 overall and 8-3 on goal, while also maintaining 58 percent of the possession. Daniel Linder, who was the hero for the Knights with two saves in the penalty-kick shootout in the opening round against Pacific Lutheran University the day before, made seven saves for Carleton, which finished the year having only allowed a program-record-low six goals with a .300 goals-against average (No. 1 in NCAA Division III).

With an assist on Buzakovic's goal, junior Shea Bechtel tied the program record for career assists (34) established by John Zietlow '11 and moved up to third on St. Olaf's single-season list with his 11th of the season. The assist moved Bechtel's career point total to 92, four shy of Zietlow's record.

The Oles had four chances in the opening 20 minutes to grab an early goal, but Linder made two early saves to deny Bechtel on the two efforts St. Olaf directed on goal. Just two minutes in, senior Victor Gaulmin swung in a cross for a one-timer at the near post for Bechtel, but Linder tipped it out for a corner in the upper-right portion of the goal. In the 13th minute, senior Casey McCloskey whipped in a cross from the left but Bechtel's glancing header was straight at Linder.

Three minutes later, senior Hakeem Morgan fired a left-footed effort that flew just over the goal and, a minute after that, Bechtel got on the end of a whipped cross from Gaulmin but sent a diving header over the net. Morgan had the final chance of the half for the Oles, who outshot the Knights by a 12-1 margin before the break, but dragged a left-footed shot from the top of the box wide off a feed from Bechtel in the 38th minute.

Clear-cut scoring chances were hard to come by in the second half before Buzakovic's goal. After finding itself down by a goal, Carleton generated its best scoring chance of the game when Riaz Kelly lined up a volley from the top of the box that went wide of the right post following a corner kick, as St. Olaf held on for the 1-0 win.

The victory extended St. Olaf's longest-ever unbeaten streak to 18 games (15-0-3) dating back to a 2-0 loss at then-fifth-ranked Kenyon College that was the Oles' third loss in four games to open the season.