Acevedo extends to keep the ball in play. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Midfielder Connor Young positions the ball in the backfield for a clear shot on goal. Young played the majority of the game. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Forward Justin Oliver gets tangled up near St. Olaf’s goal. The first half of the game got physical with many stops for players down. No one left the game due to injury. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Ole defender Thierno Gueye receives a yellow card in the first half for a heavy contact play near the goal. The Tommies and Oles both went scoreless in the first half. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Forward Jonathan Acevedo handles the ball in the corner near the Oles goal. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Senior Alex Schnobrich meets an Ole at midfield trying to clear the ball to a teammate as the second half got underway. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Senior Pierce Erickson pushes for goal number 2 as his teammates watch on from the sidelines. The Tommies added to their shots-on-goal near the end of the game to try solidifying a lead. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
The Tommies grab a 1-0 win over St. Olaf. The Tommies are now 15-1 and have two remaining games. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
The Tommies thank the crowd for their support throughout the season. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Defender Connor Young scored in the 67th minute of play to push the fifth-ranked St. Thomas men’s soccer team past St. Olaf to a 1-0 victory Saturday afternoon at home.
The Tommies (8-0-0 MIAC, 15-1-0 overall) celebrated senior day during the victory. It was only fitting that the game’s lone goal came off the foot of Connor Young, one of the team’s senior leaders.
“It was nice being able to get all the seniors on the field today; it was something special,” said Young. “It was great to top off senior day with a win.”
Young buried a rebound that came off a free kick from senior Shae Bottum. It was Young’s second goal of the year and Bottum’s 11th assist.
As a defender, Young rarely gets the opportunity to contribute scoring goals, making the moment even sweeter.
“I used to be a midfielder, so I always want to get up there and time my runs and get goals,” Young said. “You’ve got to keep your head in the game and be ready at all times.”
Saturday’s shutout victory marks the Tommies’ fifth shutout in six games. Junior goalkeeper Aidan Hogan has been in net for each of the shutouts.
“We don’t let up that many shots on goal, props to our defense,” Hogan said. “After that, it’s just about being confident. You have got to know you can make the save.”
The Tommies’ stifling defense only allowed St. Olaf (1-7-1 MIAC, 3-12-1 overall) to record two shots on goal.
“The key to our defense is our offense. We press teams really hard and do a good job keeping the ball,” Young said. “As a defense we don’t get much work to do, which is super nice.”
The game was highly competitive in the first half, with both teams spending time in the opposition’s zone. However, the Oles looked fatigued in the second half. St. Olaf coach Kurt Anderson was yelling for his team to get up the field faster in the closing 20 minutes.
St. Thomas coach Jon Lowery felt that his team was well conditioned for the win.
“Depth is something we have a lot of, we pride ourselves in it,” Lowery said. “St. Olaf is missing a lot of key players, so the effort they put out was tremendous, but I think physically we did wear them out, and at the end you could see the difference.”
The Tommies look to continue their win streak Tuesday at home when they host Augsburg in their final home game of the regular season.
Kyle Manderfeld can be contacted at mand4052@stthomas.edu.