ST. PAUL— On a chilly afternoon at Reynolds Field, the University of Northwestern-St. Paul tied 1-1 in double overtime against Bethany Lutheran College on Friday afternoon. In a vital weekend determining playoff contenders, both teams are fighting for a spot in the conference tournament

Remaining scoreless in the first half, the Eagles and Vikings had a quiet first 45 minutes. With a single shot, BLC was out-shot by UNW 6-1. With the second period starting up, both teams contributed points on the board. First was Bethany's Benjamin Moldstad, who notched in a goal from the left side 10 yards back with 56:31 on the clock. Moldstad's goal was made possible by Michael Loguercio's cross from the right. The second goal of the afternoon was Northwestern's Mark Habeck (Winona, Minn./Winona) with 68 minutes into the game. Habeck executed off a rebound and tapped a grounder to the left of goalkeeper Matt Bitter. Unable to break the tie, the teams went into overtime still tied at 1-1.

In the first overtime, UNW only racked two shots but BLC couldn't find a single shot. Double overtime looked a little brighter for both teams as Northwestern out-shot the visitors 5-2, including a near-goal attempt by Matthew McCann (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) with one minute remaining with a rocket header just high of the crossbar. However, neither team sealed the deal, resulting in a tie for the conference match.
In the goal, Turner Main (Kewauee, Wis./Kewaunee) had two saves from the Vikings three shots on goal, compared to Matt Bitter's 11 saves from the Eagles 13 shots on goal.

Northwestern (6-11-2 Overall, 5-5-2 UMAC) is currently seated fourth in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and needs to win tomorrow's contest to guarantee a spot in Tuesday's UMAC playoffs. The Eagles will host Crown College tomorrow night at 6:15p.m. for their last home game of the regular season.