ST. PETER, Minn. – The second-seeded St. Olaf College men's soccer team became the first back-to-back-to-back champions in the history of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Soccer Playoffs by knocking off top-seeded and fourth-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College by a 3-2 score on Saturday afternoon at Gustie Soccer Field.

In the third consecutive meeting in the championship game between the two programs, St. Olaf (14-4-3) held leads of 1-0 in the first half and 2-0 in the second half, but Gustavus (15-1-3) equalized twice to knot the score at 2-2 entering the final 15 minutes. Just over three minutes after the Gusties tied the game for the second time, junior Robi Buzakovic netted the game-winning goal from the penalty spot, and the Oles held on over the final 15-plus minutes.

The victory gave St. Olaf its fifth MIAC Playoff title in program history (2011, 2015, 2022, 2023, 2024) and improved the Oles' record to 4-1-2 in the title game. The Oles also claimed the MIAC's automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championships and will learn their opponent and destination during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 11 at 12:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

St. Olaf opened the scoring in the 17th minute when sophomore Ryan Bechtel scored his seventh goal of the season off assists from senior Shea Bechtel and fifth-year senior Clemente Arcuch Puig. Arcuch Puig drove a low cross across goal from the right that Shea Bechtel slid to try and get on the end of but diverted the ball to Ryan Bechtel to score at the back post for his third goal in the last four games.

In just his second collegiate start, junior Jack Hobday kept the Oles on top by getting his finger tips to a shot by Leo Runestad that was destined for the bottom-left corner with nine minutes remaining in the opening half. Gustavus proceeded to tie the score just two minutes later, however, when Darren Chukel rose highest to head in a cross from Reid Wolf.

The score remained 1-1 until Arcuch Puig scored with a left-footed shot from the top of the box on the left to the top-right corner to give the Oles a 2-1 lead. The goal was Arcuch Puig's third of the season and came after Gustavus was unable to clear a corner kick from Buzakovic away from its box.

Hobday again preserved St. Olaf's lead with 19 minutes to go by getting down to his right to turn a drive by Alexander Krumenauer out for a corner kick. Like in the first half, the Gusties responded shortly after Hobday's save, as Owen Johnson put home a rebound in front in the 73rd minute to tie the game for a second time.

Less than four minutes later, St. Olaf was awarded a penalty kick after a handball on a Gustie defender after junior Dimitri Nair swung a cross into the box from the right. Buzakovic improved to 5-for-5 from the spot this season by converting the penalty kick for the game-winning goal, which was his seventh goal of the season.

The Oles limited the Gusties to just two shots after Buzakovic's penalty kick and neither of the two were on goal, despite Gustavus peppering the St. Olaf box with crosses over the final 15 minutes. St. Olaf held slender advantage of 17-16 in shots and 8-6 in shots on goal in the game. Hobday picked up the first win of his career by making four saves, while Egan Bedwell had five stops for the Gusties.

Gustavus entered the day as one of four remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division III men's soccer and was unbeaten in its last 14 home games (12-0-2) since a 2-0 loss to UW-Whitewater on Oct. 8, 2023. The Gusties had been 50-9-5 on their home field since the start of 2018 as well. The win was also the third for St. Olaf against a top-five-ranked team, along with a 2-1 victory at third-ranked Macalester College on Oct. 14, 1998 and a 2-1 win at fifth-ranked Gustavus in the 2022 MIAC Playoff championship game.