PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The No. 1-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team saw its perfect start to the season come to an end but remained unbeaten following a 2-2 tie at UW-Platteville on Tuesday evening at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.
St. Olaf (11-0-1) fell behind twice but was able to tie the game with goals on a pair of long throw-ins by senior
Ryan Bechtel but was held to a draw by UW-Platteville (4-4-2) to snap the Oles' season-opening 11-game winning streak. The Oles entered the night as the only NCAA Division I, II, or III men's soccer team to win all of their games this season.
St. Olaf's 11-game winning streak was the third-longest in a single season in program history and its longest ever to start a season. The Oles were ranked No. 1 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches for the third week in a row earlier in the day on Tuesday.
Neither team was able to create much offensively in the first half, but UW-Platteville benefited from an own goal on a back pass in the 36th minute to take a 1-0 lead into the break. The goal snapped the Oles' shutout streak at 379:20 dating back to a goal by Luther College on Sept. 23. The Pioneers' lone shot of the opening half was the lone shot on goal of the first 45 minutes either way.
Early in the second half, St. Olaf appealed for a penalty kick when junior
Jack Soares went down in the box five minutes in and, one minute later, Bechtel's whipped cross from the right hit the inside of the far post and stayed out. The Oles' pressure eventually resulted in a goal in the 60th minute, when Bechtel's long throw from the left was flicked in by junior
Kymani Chitulangoma for his third consecutive game with a goal.
UW-Platteville reclaimed the lead less than seven minutes later when Bryker Langfald headed in a cross from Niall Hagen to put the hosts on top again. St. Olaf had not yielded multiple goals in a game this season and began the night ranked second in NCAA Division III in goals-against average (0.273) after conceding just three goals in 11 matches.
St. Olaf responded less than four minutes after Langfald's goal when junior
Mateo Ormaza put the ball in from close range after Chitulangoma's header hit the right post off a long throw-in from Bechtel. The goal was the first of Ormaza's collegiate career.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Oles were inches from finding a go-ahead goal when junior
Jack Soares curled the ball towards the top-right corner, but Connor Waite got hit finger tips on it to divert it away for a corner kick. Chitulangoma nearly won it in the 89th minute, but Waite palmed out his header off another long throw-in from Bechtel.
St. Olaf will return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play at home against the College of St. Scholastica at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10 on Senior Day at Rolf Mellby Field.
