NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Fueled by a second-half offensive surge, the Carthage College men's soccer team handed St. Olaf College their first loss of the season, with a 5-1 victory Friday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

The Red Men (2-3) jumped on the board early, with Nicholas Messineo scoring just seven minutes in to the match. Each team's defenses would hold steady for the remainder of the half, with Carthage holding a 1-0 advantage at the intermission.

Just over three minutes into the second period, Freddy Martinez would give the Red Men an insurance goal before Messineo scored his second in the 63rd minute to make it 3-0. Freshman Matteo Costa would find the back of the net for his first career goal minutes later, with Alberto Kovacevic scoring his first as well to set the score at 5-0. The Oles (3-1) would add a goal as time ran out to draw the final score at 5-1 in favor of Carthage.

The Red Men will remain on the road and head to St. Paul, Minn. where they will face Macalester College on Sunday, September 15 at noon.
 

Head Coach Steve Domin

"Truthfully we did not play well today, especially to start. I'm not talking about physical ability, but rather doing the little things we can control; pace, voice, and support. Clearly St. Olaf is off to a great start, with a 3-0 record coming in, and they had not conceded a goal so we knew there was going to be a battle today. I just thought playing in a wonderful facility and on a great pitch we would be more focused."

"With all the injuries we have had to start this season it was nice to see some of the two and three-deep guys be successful. We had some pretty goals today, and clearly Christian Lekki was the man of the match in goal for us. If he didn't show up it could have been a much different game. We are going to need to find a different gear if we are going to compete with Macalester. They play nearly as difficult of a schedule as we do and we will need to find another gear being banged up to play the way we can."  
 

Quick Facts

• Carthage has scored eight goals in the last two matchups with St. Olaf, compared to two for the Oles.
• The Red Men have now had 10 shots on goal in back-to-back contests, something they last accomplished near the end of the 2017 season when they did it in three straight.
• While Nicholas Messineo scored a pair of goals today, his younger brother Vinny Messineo recorded an assist on Alberto Kovacevic's score.
• Freshman Christian Lekki got the start in goal today and recorded six saves.
• Senior Freddy Martinez scored his 10th career goal today.

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