WINONA, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team surged to the top of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings with a 2-0 road victory over Saint Mary's University on Tuesday evening at Ochrymowycz Field.

Sophomore Ryan Bechtel opened the scoring late in the first half and junior Dimitri Nair added another early in the second half to give St. Olaf (10-4-1, 6-0-0 MIAC) its 18th consecutive victory over Saint Mary's (6-7-1, 0-5-1 MIAC) during a run that started on Oct. 11, 2006. The win took the Oles, who were ranked No. 3 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Region IX poll and received votes in the national poll, two points clear of Gustavus Adolphus College atop the conference standings with four games remaining in the regular season.

With the victory, St. Olaf improved to 31-2-3 in its last 36 MIAC games going back to the start of the 2021 season and moved to 8-1-1 in its last 10 games since a 2-3-0 start to the season. The Oles dominated every major statistical category in the game, outshooting the Cardinals 27-4 overall and 16-2 in shots on goal and having all 17 of the game's corner kicks while also enjoying 65 percent of the possession.

St. Olaf had eight shots in the first 16-plus minutes of the game, but Daniel Sessler made four of his 14 saves in the game early on to keep the game scoreless until the late stages of the opening half. In the 41st minute, the Oles earned a penalty kick, but Sessler made a save to deny senior Shea Bechtel's effort from the spot.

Just over a minute after the penalty kick, St. Olaf broke through when Ryan Bechtel got on the end of a ball into the box by sophomore Alex Yu, chested it down, and slotted the ball home for his fourth goal of the season, with Yu collecting his second collegiate assist. All four of the younger Bechtel's goals have come in the last six games. The Oles had 16 of the first half's 17 shots and 10 of the 11 shots on goal.

Nair doubled St. Olaf's lead just over six minutes into the second half by turning the ball in after Ryan Bechtel's long throw-in reached the junior in front of the goal. The goal was Nair's third of the season and all three have come in the last five games.

Senior Peter Forseth saved both of the efforts on goal the Cardinals mustered on the night to log his fifth shutout of the season and the 18th of his career.

The Oles will play three of their final four regular-season games at Rolf Mellby Field, starting with a meeting with Augsburg University on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 3:30 p.m.