Mankato, Minn. – The Bethany women's soccer team had a productive second half to defeat Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) rival Martin Luther 6-1.
The game remained scoreless after the first half; it wasn't until 10 minutes into the second half that the Vikings would get on the board. Kindra Fairburn (Big Lake, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville) was able to find the back of the net assisted by Paige Taylor (Coon Rapids, Minn. / Totino Grace) for the first goal of the game. At the 62:36 mark Maggie LaPlante (White Bear Lake, Minn. / White Bear Lake) scored her 10th goal of the season unassisted to put the Vikings up 2-0. Taylor assisted another goal one minute later when the Vikings extended the lead with Hannah Spaulding (Savage, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) scoring. At the 67:09 mark Marta Faugstad (Mankato, Minn. / Mankato East) got in great position to soar one past the keeper, LaPlante and Spaulding got the assist. Fairburn scored another goal 74 minutes into the game this time assisted by Bridget Hennen (Apple Valley, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran). It was 5-0 before Martin Luther was able to score a goal. One more Viking goal went past the Knights' keeper to finalize the score. Denaye Austad (Highlands Ranch, Colo. / Home School) scored her first collegiate goal of her career with just three minutes left on the clock.
Alexa Mowery (Fairmont, Minn. / Fairmont) was credited with the win recording six saves in her 80 minutes played. Elizabeth Olson (New Ulm, Minn. / Minnesota Valley Lutheran) came in as keeper for the remaining time.
Bethany outshot Martin Luther 22 to nine. The Vikings had 13 shots on goal wile the Knights had seven. Bethany also had a corner kick advantage with nine compared to Martin Luther's three.
With the win the Vikings guarantee a spot in the UMAC Post-Season Tournament. It will be BLC's third appearance in as many years. Bethany is currently third in the conference with a 7-3 record, the Vikings are 9-6-1 overall. Next, BLC will travel to take on Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. on October 19th.
