The St. Olaf men’s and women’s soccer teams took to their home pitch at Rolf Mellby Field on Oct. 24 to battle cross-town rival Carleton College. Both teams were looking for victory in order to stay alive in the MIAC standings.
The Ole women came into the game with an overall record of 3-9-4 and a MIAC record of 2-6-1, while Carleton entered the competition with an overall record of 7-7-1 and a MIAC record of 5-4-0. The game started slowly; both teams struggled to create chances for goals and had an array of missed opportunities. Carleton managed to find the net in the 25th minute, as one of Ava Lewis’ four first-half shots managed to slip past the stout St. Olaf defense.
The Oles continued to struggle for the rest of the game, unable to push the ball past a Carleton defense that only allowed the Oles five shots, with two shots on goal. Emily Helle ’18 led the team with two total shots and one shot on goal, while Emily Sierakowski ’16 also got off two shots. The final score saw Carleton come away with a close 1-0 victory, with both teams struggling to find the offensive fire power to pull away. The Oles now sit 10th in the MIAC and can only hope to win the next few games to finish a tough season on a high note. The women will face the College of St. Benedict in a tough away matchup on Oct. 31.
The men’s team came into its contest against the Carls with an overall record of 9-6-1 and a MIAC record of 5-2-1, while Carleton boasted an overall record of 7-5-4 and a MIAC record of 4-2-2. There was a plethora of goals throughout the contest, with Henrik Kowalkowski ’17, Sam Kaplan ’16 and Jens Undlin ’16 (who scored a late goal to level the match at 3-3) finding the net during the course of the game.
Each team found its offensive rhythm, while both defenses stuggled to hold off the opposing team’s forwards. Carleton had a total of 15 shots with ten on goal, and St. Olaf had a total of 16 shots with seven on goal. The game also had an abundance of fouls, as defensive players were forced to play more physically to stop the rush of strong forward and midfield play. The final score was a 3-3 draw, leaving both teams short of an important victory going into the end of the season. Carleton now sits only two points behind the Oles, who are now third in the MIAC standings. The men’s team’s next away matchup will be against St. John’s University on Oct. 31.
