SAINT PETER, Minn. - No. 6 Gustavus men's soccer opened its MIAC slate of games Tuesday at the Gustie Soccer Field against Carleton and came away with a 1-0 victory. The Gusties, now 6-0-1 overall, have won five straight games with three consecutive shutouts.
Maintaining possession for much of the first half, the Gusties broke through in the 34th minute for the game's only score.
Leo Runestad tallied his first goal of the season, which proved to be the game-winner.
Owen Johnson assisted on the goal, bringing his season total to three and his career mark to 40, which is one shy of the program record set by former teammate Matthew Gibbons (2017-21). The Gusties outshot the Knights 13-2 in the first half.
The second half was not as tilted in favor of the Gusties, but they still increased their shot advantage to 23-4, including a 9-1 mark on goal. Johnson and
Rivaldo Pena led the attack with two shots on goal each.
Egan Bedwell earned his fifth clean sheet of the season after making one save. The Gustie defense has now gone three straight games allowing just one shot on goal.
"We knew it was going to be tough facing Carleton to start the conference because they really do not concede a lot of goals," said Head Coach
Tudor Flintham. "I thought we pinned them in throughout the first half and were able to do a lot of the things we wanted to do, but they adjusted in the second half which forced us to change a bit tactically, which we'd rather not do, but we made the change and were a bit more comfortable defensively.
"We also had a few guys out with injuries but we have this mantra of 'next man up,' and that's what happens with Gustie soccer."
Gustavus continues conference play Saturday afternoon at Macalester.
