NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team eased to a 7-0 victory over Luther College in non-conference play on Wednesday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Olaf (3-3-0), which was ranked No. 8 in Region IX by the United Soccer Coaches this week, got goals from six different student-athletes and benefited from an own goal in the win. The victory was the largest for the Oles over Luther (1-3-3) in the all-time series between the two programs, which dates back to 1985.

Junior Shea Bechtel was the lone Ole with multiple goal involvements in the victory, tallying a goal and an assist for the second game in a row. In total, St. Olaf had 12 student-athletes with either a goal or an assist or both, including getting the first-career goals from senior Leo Dixon and first years Sean Elster and Michael Nelson.

Senior Hakeem Morgan moved into a tie for sixth in program history by scoring the 26th goal of his career, moving equal with Chris Boyd '95 on the program's all-time list. Morgan and Bechtel's performances left them in a tie for sixth on St. Olaf's all-time points list with 74, while Bechtel tied Jeff Scovill '96 and Jason Bezdicek '01 for 10th in program history with 24 goals.

St. Olaf got on the board first with a ninth-minute own goal when a Luther defender turned a left-wing cross from senior Casey McCloskey into his own net. Less than eight minutes later, the Oles doubled their lead on Bechtel's fourth goal of the season, as the junior slotted the ball inside the far post from the right side of the box after sophomore Aidan Hillis got the ball to Bechtel in the box.

Morgan capped St. Olaf's three-goal first half and made it three goals in less than 12 minutes by heading in a left-wing cross from McCloskey in the 21st minute. Bechtel also collected an assist on the goal by feeding McCloskey for the one-time cross that led to Morgan's lopping header.

The Oles added their first of four second-half goals in the 54th minute when senior Victor Gaulmin headed in a corner kick taken by classmate Liam Vance to make it 4-0. St. Olaf tacked on three goals in the final 15-plus minutes, starting with Elster slotting the ball home after being slipped in by sophomore Dimitri Nair in the 75th minute.

Just over five minutes later, Nelson beat a pair of Luther defenders on the left side before cutting in and firing the ball in off the inside of the far post for his first-career goal in his second game. Dixon capped the late flurry by tucking the ball into the lower-right corner of the net off a cutback from junior Joe Deuitch in the 88th minute.

Senior Austin Williams had just two saves to make in picking up the 10th shutout of his career to tie Sean McNattin '99 for seventh in program history. Jack Bell helped limit the damage to three goals in the opening half for Luther by making six saves before the break. Kai Haroldson made two saves in the second half for the visitors, who were outshot 14-2 in shots on goal in the game.

St. Olaf's 13 goals over the last two games are its highest total since tallying 14 in wins over Cornell (10-0) and UW-Platteville (4-0) on Sept. 11-12, 1999. The Oles return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play by hosting the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m.