ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Hamline Pipers traveled down Snelling Avenue on Monday night to take on the UNW Men's Soccer team in an early season match. The Pipers held the lead for the majority of the game, but a late game push by the Eagles turned the game on its head in the final stages.

It was a defensive battle right from the opening kick at Reynolds Field. Shots were hard to come by all night long, but in the 17^th minute it was the Hamline Pipers who got a rare, high quality scoring opportunity and they capitalized on it. A Jake Sullivan pass found the foot of Alex Rouse, who scored his first goal of the season and gave the Pipers an early lead.

The rest of the first half was an evenly matched slugfest, as both teams were only able to muster up three shots a piece. The squads went into the halftime break with the Pipers clinging to a 1-0 lead.

It was more of the same in the 2^nd half. Neither team could get into an offensive rhythm, and the defense from each team put on dominating performances. Each team would get three shots in the second half as well, as this game was as even as it gets with each team finishing with six shots for the game.

However, the narrative changed in the 73^rd minute as the Eagles offense sprang to life in a big way and gave the Labor Day crowd at Reynolds Field a lot to cheer about. The Eagles had a free kick right at midfield, and sophomore Justin Ross (Midwest City, OK./Midwest City) was chosen to come up to take it. That was the right decision. From midfield, Ross delivered a perfect ball on the fly into the box, where Cole Alfrey (Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn) came flying in and used all 6'2 of his frame to jump up and head the ball into the back of the net. It was a highlight reel goal that left the Hamline defense and goalkeeper stunned, as the Eagles broke through to get on to the scoreboard.

With the game now tied at one goal apiece, the defenses from each team went back to work. The game entered the final minutes still tied at one, and it appeared that the game was destined for overtime. However, in the 86^th minute, the Eagles had a run deep into the Hamline zone where the ball was knocked out of bounds and the Eagles were rewarded with a corner kick. Again, Justin Ross (Midwest City, OK./Midwest City) was chosen to take the set piece. Again, this was the right decision.

Ross delivered a beautiful cross from the corner to the far side of the box. Similar to the first Eagle goal, Cole Alfrey (Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn) out jumped everybody and got his head to the ball. This time, the ball off of Alfrey's head did not find the back of the net. However, it did find the foot of Koby Wesselink (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar High School), who was in the right place at the right time, and he pounded the ball past the keeper to give the Eagles the 2-1 lead that would hold throughout the final 4 minutes.

The Wesselink goal was his second of the season, and was his first game winner of the young campaign. Ross had two assists on the night, and Alfrey had a goal and an assist. With the win, the Eagles improved to 1-1 on the season.

Northwestern will be back in action on Thursday, September 9^th as they hit the road for the first time and travel to Minneapolis to play Augsburg at 7:00pm.