ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Women's Soccer team collected its first UMAC victory of the season on Saturday evening as they delivered Martin Luther's first conference loss this season. The Eagles struck twice in the first half, followed by one goal in the second, to finish with a 3-1 win over MLC.

The Eagles wasted little time getting on the board, striking in the 9th minute when Marie Kendall (Dakar, Senegal/Dakar Academy) delivered a perfectly placed corner kick to the head of Haley Mersberger (Kiel, Wis./Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah), who buried the finish for the early lead. Minutes later, Mersberger doubled the advantage with a stunning strike from 20 yards out, curling the ball into the opposite top corner. She nearly tallied her third in the opening 20 minutes, smashing one off the crossbar and coming within inches of a hat trick. The first half was all Northwestern as they didn't allow a single shot for the Knights. 

In the second half, Kendall nearly added to the lead in the 52nd minute, hitting the underside of the crossbar on a deep shot. The Knights capitalized shortly after, pulling one back in the 55th minute to make it 2-1. The Eagles continued to press and finally broke through again in the 73rd minute, as Kendall slipped behind the back line and tucked her shot past the keeper to seal the win.

Northwestern dominated the stat sheet with 67% possession and a commanding 38-1 advantage in shots, led by Kendall with 20 shot attempts, eight on target, to go along with her goal and assist. Mersberger followed closely in shot attempts with 13 and four on goal, in addition to her second brace of the season. Sam Hansen (Cottage Grove, Minn./New Life Academy) played all 90 minutes in goal for the Eagles.

The Eagles return to action next week, traveling to Morris to face the Cougars at 4:30 PM.