NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The top-ranked and top-seeded St. Olaf College men's soccer team advanced to the championship game of the 2026 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by getting two goals in the span of 1:36 in the second half to claim a 2-1 win over fourth-seeded Carleton College on Thursday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.
After a scoreless first half, Carleton (11-7-1) took the lead on a goal by Matthew Deffo, but St. Olaf (17-0-3) responded with goals less than two minutes apart from juniors
Mateo Ormaza and
Charlie Piller in the next 12-plus minutes to take the lead. The Oles limited the Knights to one shot over the final 20-plus minutes to see out the lead.
With the win, St. Olaf advanced to the championship game of the MIAC Playoffs for the sixth season in a row and the ninth time in program history (2007, 2011, 2015, 2021-26). The Oles will go in search of their sixth MIAC Playoff title by hosting third-seeded and No. 22-ranked Saint John's University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 after the Johnnies defeated second-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College by a 2-1 margin in overtime in St. Peter on Thursday.
Clear-cut scoring chances were hard to come by in a first half that saw St. Olaf have all three of the shots on goal. Early in the second half, Carleton made the breakthrough when leading-scorer Matthew Deffo turned a defender, drove to the top of the box, and slid a low shot across goal into the lower-right portion of the net for his ninth goal of the season.
St. Olaf answered with the two quick-fire goals to turn the game on its head. Ormaza netted the equalizer in the 66th minute by heading in a cross from senior
Ryan Bechtel at the back post after junior
Ryan Wilson got the ball wide to Bechtel, who got into double figures on the season in assists on the goal. Wilson's assist was his seventh of the year.
Just over 90 seconds later, Piller lashed a volley from roughly 30 yards out into the lower-left corner after the Knights headed a cross clear. The goal was Piller's fifth of the season and his third game-winner.
Carleton's lone shot after Piller's goal was an 82nd-minute show by Alex Harcourt from the top-right corner of the box that was straight at junior
Beckett Carlson for Carlson's lone save of the game. Adam Ouachani made all three of his saves in the opening 45 minutes for the visitors.
The win kept St. Olaf unbeaten at home this season (9-0-1) and as one of two undefeated teams left in NCAA Division III along with third-ranked Case Western Reserve University.
