NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The No. 10 nationally-ranked Gustavus men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Carleton in both teams' MIAC opener. Carleton scored the game's only goal late in the second half to upset the Gusties.
Both teams played to a 0-0 deadlock in the first 45, each getting two shots on goal a piece.
The Knights brought the offensive heat in the second, managing five shots and three corners in just 10 minutes of play. Carleton broke the scoring deadlock at 72:50 in the game, as the Knights played a loose ball into the box that was sent past
Wesley Sanders (Urbandale, Iowa) for the lead against the nation's No. 10 team.
The Gusties scrambled to even the score in the game's final minutes, but struggled to find the back of the net.
Alex Krumenauer (Otsego, Minn.) had a chance to be the hero for the Gusties with five minutes remaining, as the senior took a ball from
Otis Anderson (Minneapolis, Minn.) in the box but sent it just high of the open net in front of him.
The loss marked the end of a 26-game undefeated streak in regular season play for the Gusties, who suffered their last regular season defeat in October of 2021.
"This is the first list we have suffered in the last 27 regular season games. Unfortunately that streak had to end. Carleton is a a very good team who are also extremely hard to play on their home pitch. That quality and advantage showed for them today," said Head Coach
Tudor Flintham. "We were also just not who we needed to be today. We need to heal up and return some of our key pieces, as well as understand the competitive fight that goes into winning every MIAC game. That wasn't there for us today. We can't lick our wounds for too long here. We need to honestly reflect and move on to the next. The challenges don't get smaller moving forward."
The Gusties finished the game with 11 shots, but only three on goal.
Sam Just (Lakeville, Minn.),
Mason Gilliand (Minneapolis, Minn.), and
Carlos Robles (Minneapolis, Minn.) each tallied a shot on goal, while Sanders made three of four saves in net.
Gustavus, now 2-1-2 and 0-1-0 in the MIAC, will host Macalester, ranked No. 18 in the nation, on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Saint Peter.
