DECORAH, Iowa – The newly-minted No. 1-ranked St. Olaf College men's soccer team came from a goal down to claim a 3-1 road victory over regionally-ranked Luther College on Wednesday night at Luther Soccer Field.
In a game where all three of its goals came off corner kicks from sophomore
Tustin Todd, St. Olaf (8-0-0) overcame an early goal by Luther (2-2-1) and broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in the last 12 minutes to extend its season-opening winning streak to eight games. The win gave the Oles just the second 8-0-0 start to a season in recorded program history, with the other coming in 1973.
On Tuesday, St. Olaf ascended to the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, while Luther was ranked No. 6 in the organization's Region IX poll. The game was a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament second-round game the Oles won 1-0 on a goal by Todd. The Oles are now unbeaten in the last six meetings (4-0-2) with the Norse.
Luther took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute when Joseph Mulindwa scored on the hosts' lone shot of the opening half. After a free kick from near midfield was not cleared, Mulindwa slotted the ball home to give the Norse the opening goal with his first collegiate goal.
The Luther lead did not last 10 minutes, however, as St. Olaf responded in the 26th minute when junior
Jack Soares thrashed the ball into the roof of the net after junior
Blaine Batchelor headed Todd's corner kick to Soares. The goal, which was the Oles' lone shot on goal of the first half, extended Soares' goalscoring streak to five games, with all seven of his goals this season coming in that span.
The game remained locked at 1-1 until senior
Ryan Bechtel scored on a looping header off another Todd corner kick in the 79th minute for Bechtel's third goal of the season. Junior
Riker Doolittle gave the Oles some insurance with five minutes to go with a header off yet another corner kick by Todd. Doolittle's goal was his first of the season.
St. Olaf had slender advantages in shots (9-7) and shots on goal (5-3) in the win but had six of the game's seven corner kicks. Junior
Beckett Carlson registered his eighth win in as many starts this season with two saves for the Oles.
In its return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play, St. Olaf will host Augsburg University at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26.
