Olsson Hat Trick Propels Blue Jays To 6-2 Victory

Elsah, IL 10/17/2023- The Westminster College men's soccer team traveled to Elsah, Illinois, on Tuesday evening to take on the Principia College Panthers. The Blue Jays would jump to a quick 4-0 lead in the first half. The Panthers would try to mount a comeback in the second half, scoring two goals in the opening seventeen minutes of the half. The Blue Jays would score two more insurance goals in the final twenty minutes of the game and earned the 6-2 victory over the Panthers. Westminster improves to 3-9-1 in the season and 2-3-1 in the SLIAC and sits currently in sixth place with three games remaining on the schedule. Principia falls to 2-10-1 overall on the year and 0-5-1 in the SLIAC.

Junior midfielder, Niklas Olsson, would have a career game, getting a hat trick after scoring in the 6th, 17th, and 71st minute. It was the first hat trick of his career; he would score on all three of the shots he took. Freshman forward, Joel Litten, would also score two goals in the game. The first came in the 26th minute and his second goal came in the 68th minute. And freshman defender, Jack Hughes, would also score a goal for Westminster in the 25th minute. Olsson now has seven goals in the season, five of them have come in the last four games he has played. Litten and Hughes both scored their first career goals for the Blue Jays.

Connor Benefield would get the start in goal for the Jays, and he would make seven saves on the nine shots he faced. He gets his second win of the season and his record moves to 2-3-1 on the year.

The Blue Jays will be back in action on Saturday, October 21st, when they host Blackburn College on senior night. Kick-off will take place at 5:00 p.m.