SAINT PAUL, MINN.—The Hamline University football team opened MIAC play with a Saturday-afternoon bout at Carleton. The Pipers out-gained the Knights by a 471-407 margin, much do to Charlie Wilson's season-high 12 receptions for 216 yards and four touchdowns. Four lead changes occurred throughout the final two quarters before the Pipers came up 15 yards short on the game's final play in a 31-27 loss to the Knights.

Hamline's first loss of the season gives them a 2-1, 0-1 MIAC record, while Carleton stays unbeaten at 3-0, 1-0 MIAC.

Carleton 31, Hamline 27

The Knights defense forced a Pipers three-and-out, and took a 7-0 lead on their first possession thanks to Tyler Dimond's five-yard run with 10:07 left in the opening frame. Charlie Wilson scored his first-of-four touchdowns off a 25-yard catch from quarterback Alejandro Villanueva before a missed extra point kept Carleton in the lead at 7-6 with 5:51 remaining in the first.

The Knights, who led for the entire opening 30:00, went into halftime with their largest advantage of the game at 17-6. Marcus Merkelbach capped Carleton's scoring with a 24-yard field goal at the 2:23 mark of the second half.

The third quarter saw Wilson register back-to-back touchdown catches that consisted of five yards, followed by a season-long 75 yards that gave Hamline their first lead of the game at 20-17 with 3:54 on the clock.

Carleton regained the lead with 0:33 remaining in the third quarter, when quarterback Jack Curtis connected with Nathan Streiff for a 20-yard touchdown pass that made the score 24-20.

The Pipers answered on their next drive, as Wilson capped a seven-play series with a 27-yard touchdown grab that gave his team a 27-24 lead with 11:17 left in the game. Hamline's defense kept that score intact throughout most of the fourth quarter as Carleton's next two drives resulted in a turnover on downs, and a punt.

Carleton took the game's fourth and final lead change off Antonio Barrera's run from one-yard out that made the score 31-27, which gave Hamline 1:52 of clock time to find an answer. The Pipers ended the game with a 13-play drive that began on their 22 yard line, and ended with an incomplete pass to the end zone at the Carleton 15 yard line.

Jevon Jones prevailed with a game-high 15 tackles (11 solo) for the Pipers defense. Croix Zacharias came through with 11 stops, which included a sack for a loss of seven yards.

Villanueva finished 24-of-40 passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns to Wilson. Malik Wynn paced Hamline on the ground with 67 yards on 20 carries, followed by Villanueva's 41 yards on 12 attempts.

Knights quarterback Jack Curtis went 23-of-38 passing for 290 yards and two scores. Antonio Barrera notched a game-high 75 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Doug Pham led the Carleton defense with 13 tackles that included a sack.

The Pipers will host St. Olaf at Klas Field for Homecoming on Saturday, September 30 at 1 p.m.