NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's soccer team scored twice in the opening 10 minutes and held on in the second half for a 2-1 victory over the College of Saint Benedict on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

Senior Sadie Klassen and junior Katie Beaudry got St. Olaf (11-2-3, 6-2-2 MIAC) out to a 2-0 halftime lead before Saint Ben's (5-6-4, 2-5-2 MIAC) generated a rally in the second half. The Bennies halved their deficit in the 66th minute through Alli Voss, but the Oles kept the visitors from finding a tying goal to secure a home game in the upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs.

With the victory and other results around the conference, St. Olaf secured the No. 4 seed for the MIAC Playoffs and will host a quarterfinal game on Monday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. The Oles are three points behind Saint Mary's University with one game remaining but lost the head-to-head meeting to the Cardinals.

Prior to the game, St. Olaf honored its 10-member senior class of Bella Kornwolf, Klassen, Katie Sewell, Annika Wallace, Quinn Riley, Mia Van der Heide, Faith Yi, Linnea Askegaard, Kalle Munger, and student manager Maddie Elstad, as well as their families. The senior class has helped the Oles to an overall record of 33-24-10, a conference mark of 21-15-7, and two MIAC Playoff appearances over the course of their careers.

Klassen got the Oles off to a quick start by slotting home a rebound off a shot by sophomore Wren VanDeWalker to open the scoring just 1:52 in. The goal was Klassen's team-leading 11th of the season, which is tied for the sixth-highest single-season total in recorded program history. Klassen's eight goals in MIAC play are two more than any other student-athlete in the conference.

Beaudry doubled St. Olaf's lead exactly 10 minutes in by scoring on a looping header that went in off the left post off a corner by junior Cat Duffy-Shaw. Beaudry's goal was her third of the season, while Duffy-Shaw collected her team-leading fifth assist of the fall. The Oles outshot the Bennies by a 10-1 margin in the opening half and took the 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

After being held to one shot in the first half, Saint Ben's generated 11 shots in the second half to force St. Olaf to hold on for the win. Voss netted her team-leading ninth goal of the season for the Bennies in the 66th minute by sliding the ball in off the left post after running onto a ball in behind the St. Olaf defense. Voss nearly grabbed a tying goal for the visitors with under 15 minutes remaining, but first year Ava Williams reacted quickly to palm away Voss' effort from inside the penalty spot.

Williams made a season-high seven saves for St. Olaf to improve to 4-1-1 on the season. Annie Waters recorded seven saves in the loss for Saint Ben's.

The Oles will host UW-Superior in a non-conference game on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 3:30 p.m. before closing out the regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 2 with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Concordia-Moorhead.