NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team got two goals from first years in the opening half and went on to blank crosstown-rival Carleton College by a 2-0 margin on Wednesday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

First years Charlie Piller and Jack Soares tallied goals in the first half to stake St. Olaf (7-3-1, 3-0-0 MIAC) to a two-goal advantage, and the Oles limited Carleton (5-3-3, 1-3-0 MIAC) to two shots on goal over the 90 minutes to secure their fourth shutout win of the season. The victory was St. Olaf's third consecutive shutout victory in the series.

The Oles were ranked No. 3 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Region IX poll and sat just outside the top 25 in the national poll. The win made St. Olaf one of two teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to get to 3-0-0 this season, with Augsburg University having the opportunity to do so later on Wednesday evening.

Piller made the most of his first collegiate start by scoring the opening goal for the Oles in the 18th minute. The first year scored on a deflected left-footed effort after fifth-year senior Clemente Arcuch Puig got the ball to Piller in the box for his fourth goal of the season. Arcuch Puig's assist was his team-leading sixth of the season.

After scoring his first collegiate goal in Saturday's 8-1 victory at the College of St. Scholastica, Soares found the back of the net again to double St. Olaf's lead a little over 30 minutes in. After the Oles won a free kick on the right wing, sophomore Ryan Bechtel passed the ball ahead to senior Shea Bechtel, who sent a cross into the box for Soares to head home after the Knights' back line was caught off guard.

Despite being outshot by a 15-13 margin overall, St. Olaf had seven of the game's nine shots on goal. Senior Peter Forseth moved into sole possession of second place in program history by collecting the 34th victory of his career – one shy of the program record – and earned his 17th shutout with a two-save afternoon. Daniel Linder made four stops for the Knights.

The Oles, who are unbeaten in their last six games (5-0-1), will look to continue their steak at Macalester College on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. The Scots were ranked No. 4 in this week's regional poll.