NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- The Carleton College men's soccer team secured three big points in the MIAC standings after notching a 2-1 victory over crosstown rival and regionally-ranked St. Olaf College on Saturday. Blake Jones (So./Urbandale, IA./Waukee) scored both Knight goals.
 
The Knights (4-4-2, 2-2-0, MIAC) came out with a drastically different lineup than seen previously, and the changes ultimately paid off as they snapped St. Olaf's (6-4-0, 4-1-0 MIAC) 14-game winning streak in conference play. Since Oct. 12, 2019, the Oles have gone 18-5-0 against conference opponents—including both regular-season and postseason play. Over that span, Carleton has been responsible for 4 of those 5 losses, including playoff wins in 2019 and 2021.
 
In this afternoon's contest, a straight red card to St. Olaf All-American Victor Gaulmin in the 25th minute altered the last 65 minutes of the game. Only nine minutes after the booking, Jones scored his first goal of the day as he cleaned up a loose ball in the box following a corner kick.
 
Despite playing with only 10 men, St. Olaf continued to battle, putting pressure on the Carleton back line. The game was physical with 13 fouls on each team and a total of seven cautions.
 
The game shifted to 10 vs. 10 in the 70th minute when Carleton's Riaz Kelly (Jr./St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Central) was sent off after receiving his second card of the afternoon.
 
Carleton tinkered further with the lineup, but Jones doubled the lead when he blasted a cross from Briggs Preim (Fy./Milwaukie, Ore./Rex Putnam) into the back of the net 10 minutes later to put the Knights up 2-0.
 
The game was far from over, however, and St. Olaf was awarded a penalty kick in the 87th minute. However, Carleton keeper Daniel Linder (Jr./Evanston, IL./Evanston Township) turned aside Shea Bechtel's shot toward the lower left corner and kept the Knights' two-goal lead intact for the time being.
 
St. Olaf finally got on the board with a 90th minute goal by Harvey-Leatham, but the Knights hung on for the crucial victory.
 
The Oles outshot the Knights 18-12 on the day, but Carleton held a slight 6-5 edge in shots on goal.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will travel to Bethel University for another crucial MIAC contest next Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3:30 p.m.