MANKATO, Minn.  – The Bethany men's soccer team (1-15-2, 0-9-2) hosted Martin Luther (6-11, 5-6) under the lights for a UMAC game on Wednesday night.
 
The Vikings and the Knights were ready for battle. Play was physical early as each team tried to gain the upper hand. Jonathan Sehloff and Dylan Nelson each had tries on net early, but couldn't connect for a score. The Knights broke the scoreless game after a shot was deflected in the box and rebounded by Luke Meihack for a score. Viking goalkeeper Ryan Lietz made a couple of nice saves around the 35th minute to keep the Vikings within striking distance. The first half ended with the Knights ahead 1-0.
 
The Vikings turned up the aggressiveness in the second half with more long passes into Knight territory. The increased sense of urgency led to a couple tries and corner kicks, but still no goals. The Knights had a penalty kick opportunity in the 60th minute after being taken down in the box. Viking goalkeeper Ryan Lietz dug his heels in and watched the shot from the Knights miss left. The Vikings continued to press and had a flurry of chances with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. Chan Park, Vincent Ayodi, and Eric Slemin all got in on the action. With ten minutes remaining the Knights let a hard shot rip without any Vikings defenders standing in the way, but Ryan Lietz made a great diving save to his right to prevent the score. Jonathan Sehloff sent a pair of deep free kicks into the box late in the game hoping for good, but the Vikings couldn't quite finish the plays. The Vikings had one last chance with 18 seconds remaining and another free kick. Samuel Duran lined up the kick and missed just to the left. The game ended with the Knights taking home a 1-0 victory.
 
The Vikings would like to give a special thanks to their four seniors Broderick Brown, Thomas Phan, Chan Park, and Uriah Ernst.
 
Up Next: The Vikings will finish their season in Duluth on Saturday when they take on Scholastica at 3:15 PM.

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MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Dan DeWitt at 507-344-7856 or email ddewitt@blc.edu