NORTHFIELD, Minn. – For the second time in three seasons, the St. Olaf College men's soccer team will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, with games being held at Rolf Mellby Field on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12.

St. Olaf earned hosting privileges for the opening weekend of the 64-team tournament during Monday's selection show and will take on UW-Superior in the first game of the day on Saturday at 11 a.m. The second game of the day will see Carleton College match up with Pacific Lutheran University at 1:30 p.m. The winners of Saturday's games will meet for a spot in the "Sweet 16" on Sunday at 1 p.m.

FAN INFORMATION
Tickets will be sold on-site on the day of the games only. Ticket prices are $6 for general admission and $3 for students/seniors, with children two and under being free of charge. Tickets may be purchased with cash or credit card. The St. Olaf Athletic Department will cover the price of tickets for St. Olaf students, but students must present their ID at the table.

All parking is on a first-come, first-served basis in the lots surrounding Skoglund Center and Tostrud Fieldhouse. Limited seating is available in metal bleachers on the west side of the field. Spectators may also bring lawn chairs or sit/stand on the hill surrounding the field. No fans will be allowed on the east side of the field where the team benches are. Fans may not stand behind the goals. No pets are allowed inside the venue, except for registered service animals.

Live video and live statistics will be available for all three games, with Jake Griffith providing play-by-play commentary on the video broadcasts.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

St. Olaf secured one of 41 automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament by winning the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs for the second season in a row and the fourth time in program history (2011, 2015, 2022, 2023). After winning the regular-season title with an 8-0-2 record, the top-seeded Oles defeated fourth-seeded Macalester College 2-1 in the semifinals to book a spot opposite third-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College in the championship game. In the championship game, St. Olaf defeated Gustavus by a 4-3 margin in a penalty-kick shootout following a 1-1 tie in the second-straight title-game matchup between the two programs.

UW-Superior claimed an automatic berth into the 64-team field by virtue of winning its seventh-straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament title with a 1-0 victory over Bethany Lutheran College in a matchup of the top-two seeds on Saturday thanks to a 39th-minute goal from Karsten Kletti. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Yellowjackets, who advanced to the championship game with a 6-0 rout of the fourth-seeded University of Northwestern in the semifinals.

Carleton landed one of 23 at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament despite dropping their MIAC Playoff semifinal to Gustavus by a 1-0 score. The loss was just the second of the season for the Knights, who enter the national tournament with a 15-2-1 record that includes a mark of 8-1-1 in MIAC play. Carleton was ranked as high as No. 4 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches and has surrendered just five goals all season to lead NCAA Division III in goals-against average (0.28).

Pacific Lutheran, which ranks third in NCAA Division III in scoring offense (3.65), earned the Northwest Conference's automatic berth into the tournament with a 13-1-2 run through the regular season, as the conference does not hold a conference tournament. The Lutes claimed their sixth conference title in the last seven seasons with two games still to go following a 5-0 win over Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 29, which was part of a 15-game unbeaten run (13-0-2) before a 2-1 loss at Willamette University on the final day of the regular season.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

St. Olaf is making its 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history (1984, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023) and is in the field for the third year in a row for the first time ever. The Oles are one of just five programs in NCAA Division III to have appeared in the "Sweet 16" in each of the last two seasons. The back-to-back trips to the sectional semifinals matched the 2015 team's run to that stage for the deepest runs in NCAA Tournament history for St. Olaf, which is 8-8-1 all-time in the tournament.

UW-Superior is in the tournament for the sixth season in a row after never having made the field prior to 2017. The Yellowjackets are 2-4-1 all-time in the tournament, with the victories coming in the opening rounds in 2018 and 2019. This year marks the third time UW-Superior is competed in the NCAA Tournament in the state of Minnesota, as the Yellowjackets were eliminated by the University of St. Thomas in the first round in 2017 and the second round in 2018 in St. Paul.

This year marks Carleton's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with all six coming since 2008 (2008, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2023). The Knights own a 2-5-0 record in the national tournament, with their deepest run being a sectional semifinal appearance in 2008. Five of Carleton's seven previous NCAA Tournament games, including its two wins in 2008 and 2018, have been decided by a 1-0 margin.

Pacific Lutheran is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance (2011, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) and is in the field for the fifth year in a row. The Lutes' 4-2 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor last season was the program's first-ever victory in the tournament, as PLU is 1-5-1 in the tournament. Pacific Lutheran also advanced to the second round in 2021 on penalties against Trinity University (Texas). This year is PLU's second trip to Minnesota for the NCAA Tournament, as the Lutes lost 1-0 to former MIAC member St. Thomas in the opening round in 2018.

ST. OLAF NOTES

St. Olaf is a combined 38-28-6 all-time against the three other teams in the pod but has never faced any of the three in the NCAA Tournament. The Oles are 5-1-1 all-time against UW-Superior, 31-25-5 against Carleton, and 2-0-0 against Pacific Lutheran.
After having won just one game in its first five trips to the NCAA Tournament, St. Olaf has won at least one game in each of its last four appearances, including having won two games in each of its last three trips. The only other programs to appear in each of the last two "Sweet 16s" are the University of Chicago, Amherst College, SUNY Cortland, and Washington & Lee University.

St. Olaf's eight victories in the NCAA Tournament are the third-highest total of any current MIAC institution, trailing Gustavus (12) and Macalester (9). St. Thomas picked up 11 NCAA wins during its time in the conference.

The Oles enter the NCAA Tournament on a 16-game unbeaten streak (13-3-0) that started with a 6-1 win over Bethel University on Sept. 13. The 16-game run without a loss is tied for the longest streak in program history, a feat that was accomplished first from Sept. 4 through Oct. 23, 1999 and duplicated from Sept. 12 through Nov. 3, 2021. St. Olaf started this season 1-3-0 but has not lost since a 2-0 loss at then-fifth-ranked Kenyon College – led by former St. Olaf head coach Travis Wall – on Sept. 10.

Since the start of the 2021 season, St. Olaf is 27-3-4 on its home turf at Rolf Mellby Field, with the lone losses coming to Colorado College and Carleton in 2021 and defending national champion UChicago in its 2023 season opener.

Three members of St. Olaf's roster rank in the top 10 in program history in career points, despite all three having only played three full seasons. Senior Victor Gaulmin is third with 88 points, junior Shea Bechtel is fourth with 87, and senior Hakeem Morgan is seventh with 79. Gaulmin and Bechtel are just one and two points, respectively, behind Kevin Skrip '16, who sits second with 89. John Zietlow '11 is the program's all-time leader with 96 points.

Gaulmin, Morgan, and Bechtel all also rank in the top 10 in program history in career goals. Gaulmin is tied for third (33), Morgan is seventh (29), and Bechtel is eighth (28) entering the weekend. Bechtel's next game-winning goal will break a tie with Nathan Swenson '10 for the most in program history, as the duo is currently tied with 11. Morgan is just one behind Bechtel and Swenson with 10.

Bechtel is three assists shy of Zietlow's program-record total of 34 and is one of four current Oles in the top 10 on St. Olaf's all-time list. Gaulmin and senior Casey McCloskey are part of a three-way tie for fourth with Jeff Scovill '96 with 22, while Morgan is just one behind in seventh with 21.

Junior Peter Forseth broke onto St. Olaf's all-time top-10 list in saves last weekend and is one save shy of becoming the 10th goalkeeper in recorded program history to tally 100 saves in his career. Forseth also ranks in a tie for sixth with 21 victories, equaling the total of Alex Kuehl '11.

This season's team ranks fourth in program history in assists (48) and shots (359), fifth in goals (58) and points (164), seventh in shots on goal 164), and tied for seventh in wins (14) and shutouts (8).