Kieran Ripken-
In their final game of the regular season, the #6 nationally ranked Gustavus Men’s Soccer team traveled up to Duluth to play the St. Scholastica Saints. The Saints came into the game looking to spoil the Gusties’ silverware hopes but this seemed unlikely as they are at the bottom of the MIAC. Coming into the game, the Gusties had their work cut out for them; they needed to win the game. The Gusties ended up toppling the Saints 5-0. Winning this game led the Gusties to share the MIAC regular season title with rivals St. Olaf.
The Gusties came out flying with their first goal coming just 9 minutes into the game. A gorgeous long ball by Fifth-year Brian Brown found Junior Spencer Skjeldestad who cut in from left to right and fired a curled ball to the back post securing Skjeldestad’s first goal of the season.
The Gusties continued their offensive onslaught with many offensive chances coming close to finding a second goal. A notable change happened just one minute after the first Gustie goal, when Sophomore Leo Runestad smashed a right-footed shot from about 15 yards out, which ricocheted off of the post and wide. The Gustie’s attack continued until the 22nd minute, when First-year Miles Redmond calmly laid the ball off to Fifth-year Owen Johnson; who attempted to take a shot but was deflected by the Saints defender. The opportunistic First-year, Caleb Avery, found himself running onto a bouncing ball in the box. He fired a half volley past three Saints defenders into the bottom right-hand corner making the score 2-0. The Gusties continued to put a great deal of pressure on the Saints defense for the rest of the half but they failed to find the back of the net.
The Gusties began the second half red hot with a goal in the 48th minute from Sophomore Joe Flory. The goal happened from a corner which was played into Flory by Johnson. Flory leaped up and over the Saints defenders and tucked it into the back of the net with his head making the score 3-0. Flory was not done here, just five minutes later it was Flory again who smashed the ball into the back of the net off of a beautiful arching pass from Sophomore Simon Woods. These two goals scored by Flory helped him to earn his first MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
We caught up with Flory after the match to find out how he felt the game went: “The game against St. Scholastica was very fun. We knew the stakes going into the game and produced a performance to match the occasion. It was an honor to win the MIAC conference for the first time, but that was only the start for this season as we look to add more trophies to it. Winning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week really topped off a great weekend overall, I do have to credit that award to the two great assists from Owen and Simon. Looking into the postseason, I’m excited to keep our season going for as long as possible”.
Gustavus was able to muster one more goal before the end of the match. It came in the 81st minute. Another splendid lob was played over the top of the Saints’ defense by Woods and Sophomore Diego Paulin, who was able to reach it with his head. Paulin squared across the face of the goal to a crashing sophomore Darren Chukel who slammed it into the back of the net. After Chukel’s goal, the game quickly came to an end with the score of 5-0.
This marked another shutout for the Gustavus side who had prided themselves in their defensive efforts. Senior goalkeeper Egan Bedwell spoke after the game: “We knew coming into the game that the MIAC regular season was on the line. That had been a goal of ours all season so everyone was very excited for this game. We scored some really nice goals and kept them shutout which was a great way to end the regular season. Celebrating with the team afterward was super fulfilling but only wetted our appetite for upcoming title opportunities. I’m super excited for the postseason with these guys, we’re hungry for more!”
The Gusties are in good spirits as they look to Thursday, Nov. 7th where they will play a dangerous Carlton side in the MIAC Championship semifinal at Gustavus Adolphus College. Potentially, they may also play on Saturday, Nov. 9th for the MIAC Championship Tournament at Gustavus Adolphus College.