NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team broke a scoreless deadlock with four second-half goals in a 4-1 win over Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

Despite outshooting Hamline (11-3-0, 3-3-0 MIAC) by a 13-0 margin in the opening 45 minutes, St. Olaf (9-4-1, 5-0-0 MIAC) had to wait until the second half to get on the board but scored four times in the span of just over 20 minutes after the break. The Oles, who were ranked No. 3 in Region IX and collected votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 national poll this week, remained the lone MIAC program yet to drop points in conference play this season.

Senior Shea Bechtel, sophomore Abdirasak Bulale, junior Ben Beckman, and first year Lucas Montera accounted for the four goals for St. Olaf, which outshot Hamline by a 26-2 margin overall and a 10-2 margin in shots on goal. Montera added two assists to his goal, while Bechtel and Beckman also collected assists to add to their goals.

The victory was the 36th of the career for senior Peter Forseth, who broke a tie with Ben Braman '17 for the most by a goalkeeper in program history. Forseth finished the match with just one save, while Max Henderson had five stops for the Pipers.

St. Olaf finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the 58th minute when Bechtel converted from the spot for the third time this season after Bulale was tripped by a Hamline defender after cutting into the box. The goal was the 37th of Bechtel's career, moving him into a tie with Kevin Skrip '16 for the most in recorded program history. Bulale doubled the Oles' lead less than 10 minutes later when he headed in a cross from Montera for his fifth goal of the season.

Hamline cut its deficit in half in the 74th minute when Jessie Juarez scored on a penalty kick to make it a 2-1 game. The one-goal margin did not even last a minute, however, as St. Olaf scored 33 seconds later when Montera slid the ball into the middle for Beckman to tap into an empty net for the second goal of his collegiate career. Montera collected his team-leading seventh assist of the season on the goal.

Beckman returned the favor to Montera four minutes later on Montera's first collegiate goal. After Hamline put a free kick into the box, St. Olaf countered quickly and Beckman played in Montera, who fired the ball across goal from the right side of the box to close out the scoring.

The Oles will trek to Winona to match up with Saint Mary's University on Tuesday, Oct. 51 at 7 p.m.