ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of Northwestern men's soccer team hosted Finlandia University in a hard-fought contest on Thursday evening at Reynolds Field. Earning the 4-1 win, the Eagles now improve to 6-7-1 on the season.

Opening up the match, UNW came out on a strong attacking. Matthew McCann (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) netted the first goal of the night, as teammate Nate Lung (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Homeschool) tabbed the assist to boost a 1-0 lead over FIN.

The Lions continued to put on the pressure, as their offensive line battled with all they had. UNW's force was too much for FIN to handle, as Eric Fast (Eagan, Minn./Homeschool) sank the team's second goal of the night to stretch a 2-0 lead with 9:00 remaining in the period.

Six minutes later, Chris Cleope (Waterloo, Iowa./Waterloo West) buried the Eagles third off of a penalty kick opportunity, which lifted the score to 3-0 in the Eagles favor. Though Finlandia put up an impressive half, Northwestern outshined the visiting team by posting 16S and 8SOG on their 3-0 halftime lead.

Kicking off the second half, the men sustained their momentum as Nathan Olin (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) knocked in a shot off of Fast's corner kick, which allowed the Eagles to push a 4-0 lead on the Lions. As the game proceeded, FIN tapped in their first goal to make it a 4-1 score.

Running away with the 4-1 victory, the Eagles capped off the night by recording 23S and 11SOG. The stat leaders on the match were Cleope (10S / 5SOG / 1G / 1A), McCann (3S / 2SOG / 1G), Fast (1S / 1SOG / 1G / 1A), Olin (1S / 1SOG / 1G), Lung (1S / 1A), and Derrick Aminga (Andover, Minn./Andover) (3S).

Northwestern will travel down Snelling Ave for their next contest against Hamline on Monday, October 17^th. Game time is set for 4 p.m. Fans can visit unweagles.com for more information.