DULUTH, Minn. – After gutting out a pair of heart-stopping 1-0 triumphs last week, the Carleton College men’s soccer team made things more comfortable on the coaching staff on Monday afternoon, as the Knights jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 4-0 victory at College of St. Scholastica.
Carleton (9-6) was on the attack from the opening kickoff and built a 24-5 edge in shots and a 12-2 margin in corner kicks. The one area where the hosts dominated on the stats sheet was in fouls, where St. Scholastica (10-5) was whistled 17 times compared to only five infractions for the Knights.
Carleton held possession early and got the scoring started in the eighth minute. Spencer Weeden (So./Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton) brought the ball up the right wing and centered to Trevor Freeland (Jr./DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb), who was left unmarked in the center of the box for a 10-yard shot. The conversion was his team-leading sixth goal of the season, while Weeden notched his third assist of the year.
The Knights doubled their lead in 43rd minute off a set piece. Mark Roth’s (Jr./Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) free kick from the right wing set up Tashi Tsering (Jr./Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) for header into the right side of the goal.
William Lanzillo (Jr./Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) converted a penalty kick in the 50th minute for an insurance goal, and the final Carleton score of the contest came in the 77th minute. On that goal, Roth sprung Nicolas Graese (Jr./Verona, Wis./Verona) on a counter attack in the middle of the field, and Graese chipped the keeper for his second goal of the campaign. With two more today, Roth is now tied for the team lead with four assists on the season.
Aidan Mullan (Sr./Iowa City, Iowa/Regina) had three saves in posting his third shutout of season in as many starts.
Carleton will close the regular season with a trio of conference matches as the Knights pursue a return trip to the MIAC Playoffs. First up is a men’s-women’s doubleheader against Bethel University on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Knights Online will provide live video and stats.
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