WINONA, Minn. – The fifth-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team secured its sixth consecutive berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 3-0 road victory over Saint Mary's University on Wednesday night at Ochrymowycz Field.

Sophomore Jack Soares scored the lone goal of the first half and senior Robi Buzakovic added two second-half goals for St. Olaf (21-1-2, 7-0-0 MIAC), which defeated Saint Mary's (4-7-3, 1-4-1 MIAC) for the 19th consecutive meeting, a run that began in 2006. The Oles have outscored the Cardinals by a 59-8 margin over the string of 19 wins in a row in the series.

With the win, St. Olaf locked up the 13th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs in program history, while extending a pair of unbeaten streaks. The Oles, who were ranked No. 5 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and No. 10 in the most recent release of the NCAA Power Index (NPI), have not lost any of their last 29 MIAC regular season games (24-0-5) and are 8-0-1 in their last nine games this season. The NPI is the NCAA's tool for selecting the field for the NCAA Tournament.

Soares netted the lone goal of the opening 45 minutes for St. Olaf in the 20th minute for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Sophomore Charlie Piller started the move by racing through midfield and playing sophomore Ryan Wilson in behind the Cardinals' defense on the right side. Wilson slid the ball into the middle to an unmarked Soares, who steered the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper.

Seconds into the second half, Piller nearly doubled the Oles' lead but saw his shot from outside the box tipped out for a corner. Piller was involved in St. Olaf's second goal, as a Saint Mary's defender took down Piller in the box to allow Buzakovic to score from the penalty spot to make it a 2-0 game. The penalty kick was the first of the season for the Oles.

A little more than six minutes later, Buzakovic extended St. Olaf's advantage to 3-0 by slotting the ball into the lower-left portion of the goal after sophomore Kymani Chitulangoma and senior Dimitri Nair kept a ball alive in the box to set up Buzakovic's second of the night. The two-goal performance was the third of Buzakovic's career.

Saint Mary's had its best scoring chance of the game in the 77th minute, but sophomore Beckett Carlson got down to turn a free kick from just outside the box from Caleb Gilbert wide and out of danger. Senior Caspar Olseth hit the crossbar four minutes later with a close-range header off a corner for St. Olaf.

Both teams were credited with 17 shots in the game, with the Oles holding a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal. Carlson picked up his third shutout of the season and remained unbeaten (5-0-1) with a five-save performance, while Ryan Horlock tallied six saves for the hosts.

St. Olaf will embark on its second road trip of the week with a visit to Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m.