ST. PAUL, MINN — The University of Northwestern women's soccer team kicked off a quarterfinal Upper Midwest Athletic Conference playoff contest against Bethany Lutheran on Monday evening at Reynolds Field. The hard-fought match between the two teams was won by the Vikings — who secured a 2-1 OT victory over the Eagles.  

In what was a back-and-fourth rally throughout the first half, the purple and gold stood their ground as they pressured the visiting team with all they had.

Northwestern remained patient, as their scoring opportunity did not come until the 42' mark when Rachel Walmsley (Lino Lakes, Minn./Homeschool) buried a shot off of a goalie deflection to give UNW a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. Ending the period with a solid performance, UNW managed to fire off eight shots and six shots on goal, as BLC noted nine shots and six shots on goal.

Four minutes into the second, the Vikings caught up with the Eagles as they made it a 1-1 tie game. As the damp weather conditions continued, both teams kept up a hard-hitting defensive and offensive battle throughout the rest of the second half.  As regulation time came to a halt, the score was still knotted 1-1.

Heading into overtime, BLC's leading goal scorer, Rachel Bitter, netted the game-winning goal just under the two-minute mark to finalize a 2-1 victory. With the win, Bethany Lutheran will move onto the semifinal round of UMAC playoffs, as Northwestern closes the book on the 2016 soccer season. 

The game leaders on the match were Walmsley (2S / 2SOG / 1G), Emily Goeppinger (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) (7S / 4SOG), Emily Daubenmier (Kijabe, KE./Rift Valley Academy) (3S / 2SOG), and Linley Norman (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) (3S / 1SOG).

Concluding the contest, the Eagles totaled 22 shots and 13 shots on goal, which outshined the Vikings 12 shots and 10 shots on goal.