SAINT PETER, Minn. - Jared Hecht's pair of goals within two minutes of each other proved to be the difference in a 2-0 victory for Gustavus over Saint John's in men's soccer on Friday. The Gusties improve to 4-2-4 overall and 2-2-2 in the MIAC, while the Johnnies drop to 5-3-3 overall and 2-2-1 in the league.
The first half went scoreless with the Johnnies outshooting the Gusties 5-3. Playing into the wind for the second half, Gustavus controlled a majority of the possession battle and it paid off in the 67th minute. Playing in just his second game of the season, Hecht knocked in a pass from
Owen Johnson directly in front of the net for his first goal of the year. Less than two minutes later, Johnson slipped a pass to
Cole Frazier who found Hecht once again in front of the net for the second score. Hecht, who played just 17 minutes, nearly recorded the hat trick moments later, but his third shot on goal was saved.
"Every win in the MIAC is a big win but this one was much needed," Head Coach
Tudor Flintham said. "We've played well recently but just haven't been able to score the goal to put us ahead. Sometimes you just have to will one into the back of the net and I felt like that's what the guys did in the second half. It's a well-worked goal but the final touch really summed up what we needed. The guys really battled hard to get this one over the line and hopefully this is the spark of belief we needed. It also adds some extra confidence to see some guys healthy and return to the lineup. Being able to call on Raph, Jared, and
Alex Krumenauer again really gave the team a boost. Now it's time to really get our noses down to the grindstone and push towards playoffs. You always want to peak at the right time. We did that last season and we feel this could be the start of something similar."
Playing in a season-high 74 minutes,
Raphael Cattelin knocked on the door multiple times with a season-high five shots on goal.
Wesley Sanders made five saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 24th of his career, which is now two shy of the program record.
Gustavus ended the game outshooting the Johnnies 13-9 overall and 10-5 on goal.
The Gusties are back in action Sunday at home against UW-Whitewater.
