NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team claimed a 2-1 win at St. Olaf College Tuesday afternoon, improving its record to 6-4 overall and 2-2 during Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
Matt Murakami (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Arthur Parens (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) scored goals, goalkeeper Matt Bateman (Jr., Savage, Minn.) made five saves, and the Gusties tallied a season-high 11 shots on goal in the victory over the Oles.
“Great win today,” said Head Coach Mike Middleton. “The lads really stepped up, and looked very good.”
Murakami got the Gusties on the board near the midway mark of the first half, heading in a corner kick to the short side assisted by Kyle Monson (Jr., Verona, Wis.).
St. Olaf responded just a few minutes later as the Oles’ leading scorer Kyle Leemon broke through the Gustavus defense and converted past Bateman to tie the game at 1-1, where the score stood at the intermission.
In the 77th minute, the Gusties took the lead for good on a shot from Parens. Daniel Barnes (Jr., Lund, Sweden) found Parens in the left side of the box, who notched the game-winner and his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
“A good first goal from Murakami, with a nice ball bent in from Monson. The second goal was a stunner. Really good ball through from Barnes into the path of Parens, who finished exquisitely. Arthur is now the second-leading scorer in the conference, and is on fire.” Middleton commented.
The Black and Gold return to action at 5 p.m. on Saturday, traveling to Minneapolis, Minn. to face Augsburg University.