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Ole Mens Soccer Split Over Weekend

Kyle Swanson
September 24, 2001

On Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23 the St. Olaf Men?s Soccer team participated in a tournament held at the University of Oshkosh. On Saturday the Oles were pitted against nationally ranked UW Oshkosh and lost 7-1.

Saturday?s game found the Oles down early. A flat start and poor team defense gave Oshkosh the opportunity to score three goals in the first six minutes of the game. The only bright spot of the game came midway through the first half when Karl Wilbur (Sr., Edina, Minn.) found Ben Clymer (Jr., Hudson, Wis.) with a through ball and a resulting goal for the Oles. The Oles gave up three more goals in the half, and went into halftime facing a 7-1 deficit.

In the second half the Oles came out determined to tighten their defense. The half did not provide many chances for the Oles, but the team defense improved and the half ended scoreless on both sides. The 7-1 loss was disappointing for the Oles.

In Sunday?s game, the Oles came out motivated to improve on their performance from the day before. The Oles were matched up against another non-conference opponent, the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In the first half, the Oles controlled much of the play and had many chances to score but failed to find the back of the net. The Oles entered halftime in a 0-0 tie with MSOE, but felt confident in the way they played.

The second half started much like the first half, but this time the Oles were able put one away. The Oles? first goal came from Chris Gangl (So., Lakeville, Minn.) after Gaute Johnsen (Jr., Akershus, Norway) headed a ball down in front of the goal off of a corner kick. The Milwaukee School of Engineering scored minutes later to even the score, but the Oles were determined to not let the game slip away from them. The Oles tallied their second goal when Wilbur was taken down in the penalty area on a corner kick. Wilbur stepped up and scored the penalty kick to give the Oles a 2-1 lead. They were not finished there though. Wilbur would find the net one more time as he received a through ball from a Kully Nelson (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and slotted it past the keeper. The Oles prevailed 3-1 to move their overall record to 1-3-1.

The Oles will next be in action at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, September 26 when they travel to conference opponent Hamline University. The Oles next home game is next Sunday, September 30 at 1:00 PM when they take on non-conference opponent Colorado College at Rolf Mellby Memorial Field on the campus of St. Olaf College.

Contact Judy Stromayer at 507-786-3315 or stromaye@stolaf.edu.