Media contact: Chris Blissett, blissett@stolaf.edu, Voice telephone: (507) 646-3834; fax: (507) 646-3033
September 19, 1999
For Immediate Release
NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Despite stretches of impressive defense and glimpses of offensive movement, the Oles lost to the University of St. Thomas 33-3 in the MIAC opener Saturday at Manitou Field in Northfield.
The Oles struggled to move the ball offensively for the vast majority of the game, while the Tommies took advantage of four Ole fumbles to amass 389 total yards. The Tommies' Josh Brand was 4-4 from the field in the first half, knocking home field goals of 34, 26, 32 and 34 yards. The Oles' lone score came on a 20-yard field goal by St. Olaf kicker Haakon Nelson (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.). St. Thomas led the Oles 12-3 at the end of the first half.
St. Thomas added a touchdown on a Marcus Ludtke run with under a minute left in the third quarter to make the score 19-3. The Tommies then scored two touchdowns in the final frame, one on an Andy Kaiser pass and one on a Mike McDonough run.
Defensively, Frank Streit led St. Thomas with 10 total tackles and Blane Tetreault contributed seven. The Oles were once again led by junior Jason Carlson (Virginia, Minn.) with 13 total tackles and once sack. Ben Dietrich (Sr., St. Ansgar, Iowa) had 10 tackles, while Cory Dingles (So., Gibbon, Minn.), Sven Bjorklund (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and Jeremy Young (Jr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) contributed eight apiece.
St. Thomas moves to 1-1 overall, and 1-0 in the conference. The Oles, now 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the MIAC, travel to Minneapolis next Saturday to take on the Auggies of Augsburg College.
St. Olaf is a four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with a student enrollment of 2,939 and a full-time faculty of 260. The college is nationally known for its art, music, science, pre-medicine, mathematics, pre-law, international studies and religion curricula. It ranks 13th on U.S. News & World Report's list of "best values" among national liberal arts colleges. It is one of Money Guide's top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nationŐs colleges in number of students who study abroad.