NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Behind goals by Marco da Cunha (Sr./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University) and Trevor Jones (Jr./Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee), the Carleton College men's soccer team defeated No. 14-ranked and top seed St. Olaf College, 2-1, in the finals of the MIAC Playoffs. With the victory the Knights claimed the MIAC's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Championships.

"When we evaluate a game, we always talk about effort, performance, and result," said Carleton head coach Bob Carlson. "The guys' effort today was fantastic. They rose to the occasion and performed and executed so well under pressure against one of the best attacking teams that I've seen. That effort and performance led to the result we hoped for.

"Congratulations to St. Olaf on their tremendous season. Going undefeated in our league is a remarkable accomplishment."

Rolf Mellby Field saw perfect weather for the crosstown duel, with sunshine and temperatures in the 60s. Both sides entered the contest on win streaks. No. 2 seeded Knights (13-3-2) had won seven straight, including a 1-0 semifinal win over Macalester on Wednesday. The Oles (17-2-1) had been on a 15-match wn streak after defeating Saint John's, 2-1, in the other semifinal. 

The Oles aimed to take control early, getting many balls out wide looking for attacking chances. The home side put three shots on net, but none of them were promising opportunities against the sure hands of Alexei Thomas (Jr./Northwood, United Kingdom/Merchant Taylors School). In the 31st minute, the Knights had a counter-attack. Justin Crawmer's (Jr./Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee) cross was deflected right back to Tarek Bos-Shadi (Sr./Kankakee, Ill./Bradley Bourbonnais), who sent another cross to the wide-open head of da Cunha, who scored his 26th career goal. The score would remain 1-0 at halftime, despite a 59 percent possession advantage for St. Olaf.

In the second half, it was the Knights who came out stronger. On another counter-attack in the 52nd minute, Blake Jones (Fy./Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee) and his brother Trevor combined in the midfield and found a streaking Bos-Shadi down the left sideline. Bos-Shadi allowed his teammates to get to the box, and he crossed it back in to Trevor Jones, who took a touch before taking a shot and scored what would be the game-winner.

It was the first time the Oles had seen a multi-goal deficit since Sept. 25 against Macalester, a deficit which St. Olaf managed to overcame in overtime. For the rest of this contest, the Knights defense held strong against the relentless Ole offense, even after St. Olaf sent one of their centerbacks up to play forward for the final five minutes.

After being neutralized all day by the backfield pairing of Henry Koelling (Sr./Ann Arbor, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) and Riaz Kelly (So./St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Central), Ole forward Hakeem Morgan finally got a nice look and scored from outside the box, but the goal came with just 2.9 seconds left on the clock.

With the victory, Carleton captures its fourth MIAC Playoff Championship (also 2008, 2013, and 2018). The Knights have also automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament that begins next weekend. It will be the Carleton's fifth trip to the NCAA Championships as the team earned an at-large in 2012.

Carleton will find out its next opponent and game location when the entire 64-team field for the NCAA Championships is announced during the NCAA.com selection show at 12:30 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 8.