NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 1-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team extended its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season unbeaten streak to 36 games with a 4-0 victory over Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.
St. Olaf (11-0-0, 4-0-0 MIAC) maintained its standing as the lone NCAA Division III men's soccer team in the country to win all of its games this season with the shutout of Concordia (2-5-4, 0-3-2 MIAC). The win made the Oles 30-0-6 in their last 36 regular-season conference games, with their last loss coming 1,449 days ago at eighth-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College on Oct. 15, 2022.
The victory was St. Olaf's eight shutout in 11 games this season and its fifth consecutive clean sheet in the series with the Cobbers. The Oles, who sat atop this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 for the second week in a row, have outscored their opponents by a 30-3 margin this season.
Sophomore
Tustin Todd made the breakthrough for St. Olaf in the 16th minute, scoring his second goal of the season by turning in a flicked-on header by junior
Blaine Batchelor after Batchelor got his head to senior
Ryan Bechtel's long throw-in. Bechtel's long throw also led to the Oles' second goal, as junior
Ryan Wilson got on the end of one in the 31st minute and directed the ball in off junior
Calvin Hess for his first goal as an Ole.
St. Olaf added a third goal before halftime when junior
Kymani Chitulangoma hung in the air and nodded in a cross from sophomore
Daniel Fuentes in the 37th minute for Chitulangoma's second goal in as many games. Sophomore
Jay Carroll scored the lone goal of the second half in the 83rd minute, robbing the ball off a Cobber defender and slotting the ball home for his first of the season.
St. Olaf outshot Concordia 16-4 overall and 10-3 in shots on goal, while also holding an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Junior
Beckett Carlson made three saves over the first 84:50 while lowering his goals-against average to 0.29 before first year
Finn Shirmeyer made his collegiate debut for the final 5:10.
The Oles will hot the road to face UW-Platteville, which received votes in this week's regional poll, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
