St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s soccer team suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of Carleton College on Saturday afternoon at the Gustie Soccer Field. Carleton built on a one goal lead at halftime, adding two more goals in the second half to hand Gustavus its first MIAC loss of the season. The Gusties see their eight-match unbeaten-streak come to an end with the loss as they drop to 7-2-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the MIAC. Carleton improves to 9-1-o overall and 3-1-0 in the MIAC, extending its winning-streak to five.
“Not the result we wanted, but an excellent performance nonetheless. We very much dominated possession, which is always good to see. The result in disappointing, but I’m happy with how we looked,” said Head Coach Mike Middleton.
After over 38 minutes of scoreless soccer, Carleton struck first at the 38:59 mark. Will Schiefeling connected with Alex Voorhes, who knocked a mid-range shot over the head of Gustavus goalkeeper Brett Ylonen (So., Lake Elmo, Minn.).
The two squads would head into the half with Carleton on top 1-0 and Gustavus holding a 9-8 advantage in shots.
After Gustavus pressed hard and registered five shots inside the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Knights took a two-goal advantage after Schiefeling scored in the 74th minute from within traffic in front of the net.
The Gusties could not find a way to cut the deficit, and Carleton added the final goal of the match at the 85:07 point, bringing the score to a final at 3-0. Going on a two-on-one break, Simon Ginet connected with Branden McGarrity who made a move and beat Ylonen for the goal.
“We controlled the ball nicely in the second half. Carleton preferred to sit in and hit us on the break – which they did very well. A sincere congratulations to them,” said Middleton. “We threw everything at them to get the goal back and opened ourselves open to the counter. Sometimes in life you just have to take your lumps and smile.”
Gustavus held the advantage in both shots (18-15) and corners (9-5) by the final gun.
Brett Ylonen suffered his second loss of the season in an eight save effort, while Carleton keeper Nate Grant picked up the win after recording seven saves.
Zach Brown (So., Eau Claire, Wis.) tallied a team-high seven shots but was kept off the scoresheet for the first time in three matches. David Lilly (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Jason Schwab (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) each contributed two shots in the match.
Despite the loss, coach Middleton is enthused by his squad’s effort over the opening month of the season. “We are playing well and I am very happy with our style of play. Now we have a whole week between games, which will give us a chance to rest some injuries and prepare ourselves for the second half of the season. We are all looking forward to it.”
The Gustavus men’s soccer team will have five days off between its next match which is set to take place on Friday, Oct. 5 at 4:00 p.m. against Bethel at the Gustie Soccer Field. The match will conclude the Gusties’ current four-match home-stand.