NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team secured a top-two seed in the upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by producing a late comeback to claim a 2-1 victory over Saint John's University on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

After over 80 minutes of scoreless soccer, Saint John's (6-7-1, 3-5-1 MIAC) broke through in the 83rd minute, but St. Olaf (11-4-3, 7-0-2 MIAC) answered just 24 seconds later through sophomore Abdirasak Bulale. The Oles went on to grab a late winner from sophomore Ryan Bechtel in the 88th minute to take all three points and remain in a first-place tie with Gustavus Adolphus College.

With their wins on Saturday, St. Olaf and Gustavus secured the top-two seeds in the MIAC Playoffs, with the regular-season championship coming down to the final day of the regular season next Saturday. The Oles were ranked No. 3 in Region IX in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll and collected votes nationally.

Prior to the game, St. Olaf honored its six-member senior class of fifth-year senior Clemente Arcuch Puig, Peter Forseth, Ian Holtz-Hazeltine, Shea Bechtel, Joe Deuitch, and manager Alex Felix, as well as their families, on the field. The class has helped the Oles to a 65-15-9 overall record, an MIAC record of 32-2-5, four MIAC Playoff appearances, two MIAC Playoff titles, two MIAC regular-season titles, two "Sweet 16" appearances, and the program's first national title last season.

St. Olaf held advantages of 29-10 in shots and 12-3 in shots on goal in the game, but it was Saint John's that finally opened the scoring with less than eight minutes to go. After the Johnnies got in down the right wing, an Ole defender got to a loose ball in the box just before Saint John's Liam Hafenbrack, but the attempted clearance ricocheted in off the Johnnie for the opening goal.

The lead did not last even 30 seconds, however, as St. Olaf struck back just 24 seconds later when Ryan Bechtel lofted a cross from the right that Bulale headed down into the ground and into the net for his sixth goal of the season. The assist was the younger Bechtel's team-leading eighth of the season.

A little over five minutes later, Ryan Bechtel won it for the Oles by turning in a cross from older brother Shea from the right wing into the lower-left corner for his fifth goal of the season. Saint John's was unable to fashion a scoring chance in the remaining two-plus minutes.

Evan Siefken made nine saves to keep the Johnnies in the game prior to the late flurry of goals, while Forseth had two saves for the Oles.

St. Olaf will host Concordia-Moorhead in its regular-season finale at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.