Box Score ST. PAUL -- Northwestern College maintained second place in the UMAC standings after defeating Martin Luther College 3-1 at Reynolds Field on Thursday afternoon.  The Eagles out-shot the Knights 20-5 on the day while improving their conference record to 6-1-1.

Sam Mann (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Central) (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Central), Northwestern's leading goal scorer, put the Purple & Gold on the board with a goal early in the game at the 3:36 mark. Mann took a pass from Stephen Ricks (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) before booting a shot past Martin Luther's Ben Zietlow from the right side.  Ricks then turned around and scored his own goal in the 25th minute to send the Eagles into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

Martin Luther found the scoreboard in the 54th minute when Ben Nommensen found just the right angle to fit the ball between Eagles goalkeeper Eric Bocan (Anoka, Minn./Meadow Creek) (Anoka, Minn./Meadow Creek) and the right post to give the Knights a hope. NWC's Clayton Athman (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) dashed that hope late in the game though as Mann served him up on a direct kick from midfield and allowed the sophomore to get a good shot off from 20 yards out on the right side that found the net.

Eight of the Eagles' 20 shots were on goal, with three of the eight beating Zietlow and the Martin Luther defense.  Bocan finished with three saves to earn the victory for Northwestern.

Now 7-6-2 overall, the Eagles will have a day off before hosting Bethany Lutheran College at Augsburg College's Edor Nelson Field on Saturday at 2 p.m.