DULUTH, Minn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team used a six-goal first half to overpower the College of St. Scholastica in an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory on Saturday at Kenny Harkins Field.
Sophomore
Ryan Bechtel and senior
Shea Bechtel combined to score five of the six first-half goals for St. Olaf (6-3-1, 2-0-0 MIAC), with the five goals coming in the first 22 minutes of the game. The eight-goal game marked the Oles' highest output in a game in the 20-game series with St. Scholastica (2-7-1, 1-2-0 MIAC) and was St. Olaf's highest single-game goal total since an 8-1 win over Lake Forest College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 12, 2022.
Ryan Bechtel scored twice in the first 3:25 before
Shea Bechtel scored his first collegiate hat trick in the span of less than seven minutes to give St. Olaf a commanding 5-1 lead inside the first quarter of the game. First year
Jack Soares, first year
Charlie Piller, and junior
Dimitri Nair were also on the scoresheet for the Oles.
The younger Bechtel matched his career goal tally by scoring twice 1:01 apart in the first 3:25 before older brother Shea made it 3-0 in the 15th minute with his first goal of the afternoon. St. Scholastica got its lone goal of the game from Gabriel Marchesoni just 44 seconds afterwards to make it a 3-1 game.
St. Olaf reclaimed a three-goal lead just 2:31 after Marchesoni's goal through
Shea Bechtel's second of the game, and Bechtel completed his hat trick from the penalty spot three-and-a-half minutes later to close out the five-goal opening 22 minutes for the Oles. Soares netted his first collegiate goal off an assist from sophomore
Alex Yu 10 minutes later to stretch St. Olaf's lead to 6-1 at the half.
Piller and Nair both had a goal and an assist in the second half, with Piller getting his third goal of the season in the 52nd minute and Nair closing out the scoring in the 87th minute. Fifth-year senior
Clemente Arcuch Puig and first year
Lucas Montera both collected a pair of assists in the first 22 minutes for the Oles.
St. Olaf outshot St. Scholastica by a 37-7 margin in the game, including a 19-2 differential in shots on goal. Ben Hallberg made 11 saves in goal for the Saints, while three goalkeepers saw time in the game for the Oles.
Riding a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1), St. Olaf will host crosstown-rival Carleton College on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 4 p.m.
