ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Sophomore
Tustin Todd's free kick early in the second half was enough to give the third-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team a 1-0 victory over Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Bethel University on Saturday afternoon at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
Todd scored on a free kick in the 51st minute for the lone goal of the game, as St. Olaf (15-0-2, 8-0-0 MIAC) ran its MIAC regular-season unbeaten streak to 40 games (34-0-6) with the shutout of Bethel (4-11-2, 1-6-2 MIAC). The victory was the Oles' ninth in a row in the series and assured St. Olaf of a top-two seed in the MIAC Playoffs.
With the top-two seed locked up, St. Olaf will host a semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. The victory left the Oles as one of five remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division III this season after second-ranked Rowan University suffered its first defeat on Saturday. Top-ranked Middlebury College, fourth-ranked St. Lawrence University, fifth-ranked Case Western Reserve University, and the unranked College of New Jersey are the other teams yet to lose this season.
St. Olaf outshot Bethel by a 10-3 margin in the first half but was held off the board by Bethel. The Oles were awarded a penalty kick in the 16th minute, but Griffin Blokker saved Todd's penalty kick for the big moment of the opening 45 minutes.
Todd atoned for the miss in the 51st minute by bending a free kick over the wall and into the top-right portion of the next for his fifth goal of the season, which was also his third goal in the last four games. Three of Todd's four goals in MIAC play this season have been game-winners.
Bethel had a pair of opportunities late to tie the game, but the Oles held on for their fourth 1-0 win of the season and their ninth shutout of the year. With just over eight minutes to go, Tadeo Magana got his head to a ball after a cross evaded junior
Beckett Carlson, but Carlson raced back to claw the ball off the line. Later, Edin Nguyen's 89th-minute header was goal-bound, but senior
Ryan Bechtel cleared the ball off the line with Carlson out of the net.
St. Olaf held an 18-13 advantage in shots, including a 6-3 edge in shots on goal, in the game. Bethel committed 17 of the game's 21 fouls but was made to pay for one of those on Todd's goal. The Oles' shutout was their first since a 4-0 victory over Concordia-Moorhead on Oct. 3.
Head coach
Justin Oliver's team will start the final week of the regular season with a trip to Gustavus Adolphus College for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
