NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's soccer team handed crosstown-rival and seventh-ranked Carleton College its first loss of the season by a 1-0 margin in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Tuesday afternoon at Bell Field.

Senior Jordan Oberholtzer scored the lone goal of the game in the 27th minute for St. Olaf (5-3-0, 3-0-0 MIAC) and the Oles made the goal hold up by shutting out Carleton (9-1-0, 3-1-0 MIAC) for the first time in the last 12 meetings. St. Olaf entered the game having won just one of the last 11 meetings (1-9-1) between the two programs since the crosstown rivals clashed in the semifinals of the 2013 MIAC Playoffs.

The victory marked the first win for St. Olaf at Carleton since a 1-0 win on Oct. 31, 2007, as the Knights had won the last eight encounters on their home field. The Oles have won each of the last three games when they have faced a nationally-ranked Carleton team after claiming a 3-1 home win against No. 22 Carleton on Oct. 2, 2021 and a 2-0 home victory against No. 23 Carleton on Nov. 1, 2009. It was also St. Olaf's fifth win in its last 25 games against top-10 opposition, although the Oles are 3-2-1 in their last six games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.

In a game with relatively few clear-cut scoring chances either way, St. Olaf capitalized on an opportunity in the 27th minute to score the lone goal of the game. After getting past a defender on the left side, senior Casey McCloskey lofted a cross into the box that found Oberholtzer, who steered the ball home via a deflection off a Carleton defender on its way in.

The goal was Oberholtzer's first of the season and the sixth of his career, while McCloskey earned his fourth assist of the season and the 18th of his career. Oberholtzer's goal also snapped Carleton's shutout streak at 796:15, which was the second-longest streak in program history. The nine-game winning streak was also the second-longest stretch in program history for the Knights.



Just under 15 minutes into the second half, St. Olaf had a chance to double its lead when junior Shea Bechtel was taken down in the box for a penalty kick, but, after a long delay before the kick, Carleton goalkeeper Daniel Linder kept out senior Victor Gaulmin's spot kick to keep the Knights' deficit at just 1-0. Less than a minute after the penalty kick, Carleton head coach Bob Carlson was shown a red card for protesting a decision that led to a yellow card for senior Hakeem Morgan.

In the final half hour, the Knights had the bulk of the possession in the offensive end, but the Oles stood firm to preserve their third shutout of the season. Inside the final 90 seconds, senior Liam Vance thwarted a chance for a Carleton attacker to get a shot off from inside the box and Carleton eventually earned a corner kick with less than 30 seconds to go, but a foul on the resulting corner ended the last hope for the hosts.

St. Olaf led the shot count by a 12-9 margin and had a slim 4-3 edge in shots on goal, although Carleton had nine of the game's 12 corner kicks. Linder made three saves in his first loss of the season, while junior Peter Forseth claimed his seventh-career shutout with a three-save afternoon.

The Oles face another nationally-ranked team on Saturday, Sept. 30 when No. 21-ranked Macalester College visits Rolf Mellby Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff on St. Olaf's Senior Day.