NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Gustavus men's soccer team suffered a heartbreaking result at St. Olaf Saturday afternoon, falling to the No. 11 Oles in penalty kicks for the MIAC Playoff Championship. The Oles bested Gustavus in the title game for the second year in a row, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while the Gusties finish the season with a final overall record of 10-3-7.
The Gusties and Oles each scored a goal in the first half — just 47 seconds apart from each other — but that would be all the scoring for the game, as the two teams played nearly 88 minutes of scoreless soccer, battling to a 1-1 tie at the end of two 10-minute overtimes, forcing the game to penalty kicks.
"St. Olaf is a great team and congratulations to them," said Head Coach
Tudor Flintham, who coached the team to its third title game in his last five years. "It's been a fantastic rivalry for this group of seniors on both teams. It's fitting that the championship game was these two programs because we've pushed each other so hard for the past years. As far as the game goes, I think it was an absolute classic. Full of excitement and suspense & two really quality national tournament caliber teams."
St. Olaf's Robi Buzakovic, who scored both Ole goals in last year's title game, took a feed in the box from Casey McCloskey and sent a well-placed ball to the low right corner to beat Gustie keeper
Wesley Sanders for the 1-0 lead in minute 21. The Gusties bounced back — and did so quickly — as
Owen Johnson dished a pass to
Diego Paulin who evened the score with his second of the year at 22:26. St. Olaf maintained the majority of offensive pressure through the first half, outshooting the Gusties 9-3.
The goalkeepers stole the show in the second half, as each made a pair of saves in the second 45 to keep their teams in the game. The Gusties nearly broke the deadlock a handful of times, most notably a pair of chances for
Jared Hecht that barely missed the goal. Hecht totaled six shots during the game, four of which came in a span of seven minutes between the end of the second and start of overtime one. The Gusties outshot St. Olaf in extra time, 4-3, including a mark of 1-0 in shots on frame, thanks to the efforts of
Owen Johnson.
The best-of-five shootout began with each team connecting on three straight penalty kicks, as
Otis Anderson,
Sam Just, and Sanders each made their attempts. St. Olaf keeper Peter Forseth made a diving save on the Gusties' fourth attempt from
Nick Katzman to give the advantage to St. Olaf. Hecht sent his kick high, sealing the win for St. Olaf on PKs.
"Both keepers stepped up and had some huge moments, but we really felt like we did enough and created more game winning chances. But it was a mix of quality defensive plays, and we just didn't convert. Whoever won the game, you walk away saying a really really good team won and is capable of making a run at the NCAA tournament. They'll represent the MIAC well."
St. Olaf finished with 17 shots to 13 for Gustavus, but the Gusties came away with more opportunities on goal, 5-4. Hecht led the way with six shots and two on frame, followed by Johnson who added three overall and two on goal, and one from Paulin to account for the full five. Sanders, in his final game as a Gustie, finished with three saves between the pipes.
"I'll share what I said as my post game talk to the team and seniors," Flintham said. "I asked them, 'What's the difference between I like you and I love you? When you like a flower you pluck it. When you love a flower you water it every day, feed the soil, try to give it perfect sunlight, and help it grow a strong and long life.' This group of seniors love this program and we love them. We feel nothing but proud of their accomplishments and contributions. They'll be remembered as one of the greatest and a group of guys who gave everything."
