Men’s soccer season ends with loss to Carleton

The St. Thomas men’s soccer season came to an end Wednesday in Northfield after losing 3-0 to top seed Carleton College (15-4, 8-2).

St. Thomas (10-7-2, 6-3-1) managed only two shots on goal and surrendered eight to Carleton in the loss.

“We started off the game a little nervous,” sophomore forward Mike Hutton said. “We unfortunately gave up a [penalty kick] in the first 20 minutes of the game and we went down 1-0.”

Following the initial goal, St. Thomas decided to switch up its offensive look.

“After that we switched to three forwards,” Hutton said. “It’s a much riskier system but there are excellent rewards when you do run it correctly.”

St. Thomas never experienced those rewards as the Knights’ defense harassed the Tommies all game long, giving up only two shots on goal and two corner kicks.

“They tackled hard, which is something we didn’t come out doing tonight,” Hutton said. “We had a lot of chances to tie the game up but unfortunately the bounces didn’t go our way.”

St. Thomas has had little success against Carleton this year, losing both times the teams played.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I think we definitely learned a lot and can make huge improvements…  We’ve got a lot to look forward to, but I’m also disappointed we didn’t get far this year.”

Though the season didn’t turn out the way many had hoped, the team looks forward to next year. The Tommies lose senior goalkeeper Carlos Castelan, but return all 10 other starters.

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu