NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The eighth-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team fell behind early before scoring the game's final four goals in a 4-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over Bethel University on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

Bethel (7-4-2, 3-3-0 MIAC) opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but St. Olaf (11-1-2, 6-0-0 MIAC) scored twice in each half to overcome the early deficit and extend its unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1). The win also ran the Oles' unbeaten streak in MIAC regular-season games to 28 (23-0-5) and its winning streak in the series with the Royals to eight by a combined score of 27-4.

St. Olaf also opened up an eight-point lead atop the MIAC standings at the time with the victory and improved to 43-5-8 at Rolf Mellby Field since the start of 2021. The Oles were ranked No. 8 in this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll and came in at No. 1 in the Region IX rankings.

Bethel got on the board first in the 12th minute when Carter Sheard fired the ball into the roof of the net off a centering pass from Jordan Ross to give the Royals the lead. St. Olaf responded in the 21st minute on the first collegiate goal from first year Tustin Todd, who cut in from the left side of the box and sent a right-footed shot inside the far post to tie the game.

Senior Dimitri Nair gave the Oles a 2-1 halftime advantage in the 42nd minute by cutting inside on his right foot and drilling the ball in at the near post after sophomore Ryan Wilson raced through the Bethel midfield and got the ball to Nair. Nair's goal was his third of the season and first since Sept. 9.

Early in the second half, junior Ryan Bechtel extended St. Olaf's lead to 3-1 by driving a low shot across goal and into the lower-left corner from the right side of the box after sophomore Charlie Piller's shot was blocked into Bechtel's path. Bechtel's goal was his sixth of the season, which put him in a tie for the team lead at the time.

Sophomore Jack Soares reclaimed the team's scoring lead inside the final minute of the game with his seventh of the season off Piller's second assist of the game. St. Olaf outshot Bethel by a 29-17 margin overall, although shots on goal were just 8-6 in the Oles' favor.

Senior Jack Hobday moved to 7-1-1 on the season with a five-save afternoon, while Griffin Blokker made four saves for Bethel.

The Oles will hit the road for their next two games, beginning with a trip to Winona to face Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.