Midfielder Johnny Mulvahill scored in the 75th minute for the St. Thomas men’s soccer team to tie its match against conference-leading St. Olaf, but neither team found the back of the net in extra time as the Tommies and Oles fought to a 1-1 draw.

The Oles (11-3-2, 6-0-2 MIAC) scored first in the match at the 43rd minute of the first half. Forward Jens Undlin knocked down a pass from defender Brenden Johnson and fired the ball past St. Thomas goalkeeper Mitchell Wolff. Undlin said his late goal gave St. Olaf momentum heading into halftime.

“It gave us a lot of energy and adrenaline to end the first half,” Undlin said.

Wolff faced nine shots from St. Olaf, allowing just one goal. St. Olaf goalkeeper Ben Braman was also busy, facing 12 shots from the Tommies (8-6-2, 3-3-2 MIAC). Braman had to make several saves late in the game to maintain the 1-1 tie.

After an even start to the second half, St. Thomas earned a corner with 15 minutes remaining, trailing 1-0. The ball bounced around in the box before Mulvahill got a leg on it and sent it toward Braman. Braman made the save, but after much discussion, it was ruled a good goal because Braman was inside the net when he made the save, and the ball had crossed the goal line. Braman disagreed with the call on the field.

“The ball came in. I reacted late. I had to get my body in front of it and send it out of the box. It didn’t cross the line completely, maybe half of it did,” Braman said.

Mulhavill’s controversial game-tying goal sparked the Tommies to a strong finish, as they outshot the Oles seven to two after the goal and two to one in extra time. Mulvahill said he was extremely satisfied with the way his team performed during the game.

“We all came out as a team and worked hard together today. The big thing to take out of the game is we all collected and came together as a one,” Mulhavill said.

St. Olaf remains undefeated in the MIAC this season, but Undlin said the team felt like they squandered two points against St. Thomas.

“We aren’t satisfied. We need to play better,” Undlin said. “We felt like this was our game to win today.”

St. Thomas coach Jon Lowery said he was happy with his team’s play.

“I’m just really proud of these guys. It hasn’t been an easy month. I give the guys a ton of credit today. They came out and took it to St. Olaf,” Lowery said. “That renewed confidence is going to help us going into Carleton and Augsburg.”

St. Thomas will travel to Carleton Oct. 28 before finishing the regular season at home against Augsburg Nov. 1. St. Thomas currently sits one point behind Bethel for the last remaining playoff spot in the MIAC, though the Tommies have a game in hand over the Royals.

Travis Swan can be reached at swan9954@stthomas.edu.