NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 4-ranked Carleton College men's soccer team notched a 2-0 Senior Day win over Saint Mary's University, clinching a top-two finish in the MIAC this fall and a first-round bye in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. The win keeps Carleton (14-1-1, 7-1-1 MIAC) in a tie atop the MIAC table on points.
 
On a windy, fall day when the 13 seniors on the Carleton would prepare for their final regular-season game at Bell Field, the Knights set the Cardinals (6-5-4, 2-4-2 MIAC) on the back foot from the opening kickoff.
 
The Knights nearly got on the scoresheet with a pair of chances between minutes 13 and 14, the first coming when Ben Pennell deflected a long ball on goal and drew a scrambling save from Cardinals' goalkeeper Daniel Sessler. Only 30 seconds later, Jonathan Vonderlage won the ball on a goal kick and sprung Pennell through the middle, but Pennell's off-balance shot was denied on the dive by Sessler.
 
Three minutes later, Vonderlage was operating again on the left side, and the Cardinals were unable to deal entirely with his lofted cross. A scuffed clearance rolled to Owen Flanagan at the top of the box, and the junior midfielder drilled a low shot through a crowd of red-and-blue jerseys and into the bottom left corner for his fifth score of 2023.
 
Sessler notched five of his total 10 saves in the first half and held the Knights to one tally in the opening frame. It took the Knights 11 minutes into the second half to create a real chance, but they finished it. Vonderlage again was on the move, beating three Saint Mary's defenders on his path to the byline. He cut the ball back to a wide open Briggs Priem, who side-footed a shot that skipped off a Saint Mary's defender and into the back of the net. That was Priem's seventh goal of the season, second-most on the Knights.
 
Carleton's backline locked down the Cardinals attack for nearly the entirety of the game, as Saint Mary's only found one shot on goal, when Jack Hurley sent a low attempt off a free kick rebound right at Daniel Linder, who made the simple save in the 58th minute.
 
Carleton's best chance for the remainder of the match immediately followed Hurley's shot, as the Knights worked possession all the way up from Linder to Pennell, who brought down a long ball with a nifty touch and slugged a right-footed shot off the crossbar, with the ball rebounding out of the box.
 
Linder made the only save his defense asked of him, and Carleton notched its 12th clean sheet of the season, tied for the most in NCAA D-III this fall. Linder himself earned his eighth solo shutout. Carleton outshot Saint Mary's 24-12, including a 12-1 margin in shots on goal.
 
The Knights are tied with St. Olaf on 22 points for top of the MIAC, a position which grants its holder the No. 1 seed in the MIAC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout. However, St. Olaf holds a game in hand over Carleton, as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker.
 
The Knights continued to climb the all-time win rankings with their 14th triumph, as their current total is tied for sixth-most victories in program annals (see chart below).
              
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton concludes the regular season on the road against Saint John's University with a 3:30 p.m kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Most Wins in single season
Year  --  W-L-T (Win Pct.)
2008  --  17-2-3 (.841)
2012  --  17-2-2 (.857)
2018  --  16-2-3 (.833)
2009  --  15-5-0 (.750)
2013  --  15-3-3 (.786)
2019  --  14-5-1 (.725)
2023  --  14-1-1 (.906)