The Gustavus men’s soccer team pulled out a 2-0 victory over Carleton College, Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter. The Gusties took a 1-0 early lead in the first half and then played exceptional defense the rest of the way. The second goal came with :23 seconds left to play on a Mike Butterworth breakaway. Gustavus extends its unbeaten streak to five games, and improves its record to 4-0-1, while getting its first win in MIAC play. The Knights fall to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the MIAC.
In the first half, the Gusties got out to an early 1-0 lead when Matt Strom (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) took a corner kick and put it in front of the net where a Carleton player knocked it in his own goal. Both teams extinguished each other’s numerous scoring opportunities in the first half and Gustavus escaped with a 1-0 lead.
The scoring opportunities continued throughout the second half. The best chance for Gustavus came with over four minutes to play as Dan Suchy (Sr., LaCrosse, Wisc.) broke free down the side of the field with the ball. Suchy passed to Mike Butterworth (Jr., Katy, Tex.), who was waiting in front of the net, however his kick went just wide of the net.
The game looked like it would end with the Gusties up by one but Butterworth was determined to get his first goal of the season. With 23 seconds left, Butterworth and a defender raced after a loose ball. Butterworth booted the ball into the air fooling the defender then he controlled the ball and beat the keeper for a 2-0 Gustavus win.
Tyler Garry saved four shots in the game for the Gusties. Ross Mattson stopped seven shots for the Knights. Gustavus outshot Carleton 16-12 and led corner kicks, 9-3.
The Gusties are now 9-0-1 against Carleton in their last ten meetings. Gustavus holds an all-time mark of 20-4-5 against the Knights.
Gustavus will travel to Moorhead on Saturday to play Concordia at 1:00pm.