MANKATO, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Men's Soccer team opened UMAC play on Saturday at Scheels Field against Bethany Lutheran College. The Eagles struggled to find their rhythm and maintain possession in their attacking third finishing with a score of 1-4.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle, which ended with the Vikings slipping in just one goal before the break to take a 1-0 lead. The second half proved to be a difficult stretch for the Eagles as BLC added three more goals. With hopes of a momentum shift, goalkeeper Hayden DeAnnuntis (Ferndale, Wash./Ferndale) stopped a penalty kick in the 55th minute, tipping the shot off the post before smothering the rebound, to keep the Vikings within reach with a two-goal deficit. However, Bethany Lutheran continued to push forward finding two more goals before Northwestern found their opening goal.
With just 12 minutes left, the Eagles finally broke through. After being fouled at the top of the box, Jared Mojardin (Denver, Colo./Northeast Early College) stepped up and drilled a free kick past a five-man wall into the bottom-left corner to put UNW on the board.
Northwestern was outshot 5-13 in the match, with only two attempts landing on goal. Mojardin finished with two shots and a goal, while Simeon Friesen (Mounds View, Minn./Homeschool) also tallied two attempts and one shot on target. Jay'ce Jones (Marina del Rey, Calif./Palisades Charter) added the Eagles' final shot. DeAnnuntis collected two additional saves to his penalty kick save.
The Eagles will now turn their focus to another tough conference opponent on the road against No. 12-ranked UW-Superior on Wednesday evening at 4:30 PM in Wisconsin.
