BOXSCORE BOXSCORE

NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Host St. Olaf College scored two goals in the second half, claiming a 2-0 win over Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Wednesday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

The game was a battle of two of the top teams in the North Region, as Augsburg (8-3-1 overall, 4-2-0 MIAC) entered the game with a No. 21 ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III national poll, while St. Olaf (11-2-1 overall, 4-1-1 MIAC) was ranked No. 23 in the latest D3Soccer.com national poll. In the NSCAA's North Region rankings, Augsburg was ranked No. 3, while St. Olaf was ranked No. 5.

Augsburg outshot St. Olaf by an 8-2 margin in the first half, but St. Olaf claimed an 8-1 shot advantage in the second half. Gottlieb Uahengo (SO, Windhoek, Namibia/St. George's College) had four shots for the Auggies.

Stephen Johnson scored for the Oles in the 49th minute, assisted by David Rosenthal, and Mohamed Haji scored in the 81st minute, scoring on a clearance attempt off a corner kick.

"We don't typically give up two goals in a game, let alone two from set pieces, but that's what happened today," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker. "The conditions dictated that the game be played a little differently than we would have liked, but we still created a few chances in the first half to grab a lead. Our effectiveness in the final third, especially on our own set pieces, has been a discussion point recently. It becomes more difficult with the loss of Chad GIlmer (JR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and David Scheller (SR, Maple Grove, Minn.)."

Clayton Lynch (SO, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier HS) had three saves in goal for Augsburg, while Harry Ullmann had three saves in goal for St. Olaf.

"I thought Danny Osip (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) did well in his MIAC debut, but when Chad is out of the game we miss that aerial advantage we usually have. The Oles' Adam Hadro was a significant destroyer of our attack in this game. He owned everything in the air and made it very difficult to get behind them," Holker said. "St. Olaf is an extremely talented team with some incredibly dangerous attackers, and I thought we did well in the run of play to keep them away from our goal. I was pleased with Chinyan Ollor's (FY, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) and Matt Knutson's (FY, Burnsville, Minn.) contributions, which is very promising as we move forward. That was Knutson's debut as well. In fact, at the end of the first half, we had four first-years in attacking roles, which was fun to see."

The result keeps the conference standings close as the league season is in its final three weeks. The top six teams in the conference standings are separated by just seven points (three points for a win, one for a tie), with Augsburg standing with 12 league points and St. Olaf standing with 13 points. Carleton and Gustavus lead the league with 16 conference points.

Augsburg travels to face Gustavus on Saturday (10/15) at 1 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.