ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's soccer secures a spot in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament with a 2-0 victory over Crown College. With a goal in each half, the Eagles took the victory in their last home game at Reynolds Field this season.

The first goal was a result of a great connection between Eagle forwards, as Mateusz Gralinski (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) sent a pass to the left side to Ivan Bautista (Laredo, Tex/Lyndon B. Johnson). Bautista continued to dribble down the field, sending the ball in a perfect position for Gralinski to score 10 yards back into the upper right corner of the goal with 14 minutes into the first half. With a second close UNW scoring opportunity, defender Robbie Denniston (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) barely missed a goal from a free kick 45 yards back as the ball went just wide of the goal with 24 minutes remaining in the first half. Eric Fast (Eagan, Minn./Homeschool) had another near goal for the Eagles, but Storm goalkeeper Justin Lao made an incredible diving save to block Fast's shot into the bottom left.

14 minutes into the second period, Matthew McCann (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) capitalized on a beautiful corner kick from Eric Fast (Eagan, Minn./Homeschool) by heading it into the back of the net with 59:38 into the game. Although Crown fought a long 90 minute battle, no additional goals were scored as the Eagles claimed the crucial victory over the Storm.

The Purple and Gold out-shot the visitors 10-5 with four more shots on goal. Defensively, Turner Main (Kewauee, Wis./Kewaunee) had one save for the home team, compared to Justin Lao's three for the Storm.

Northwestern (7-11-2 Overall, 6-5-2 UMAC) now with 23 points, stole the third seed from Crown College, and will play Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Minnesota Morris for the UMAC semifinal game.