MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran men's soccer team defeated Northwestern 2-0 on Wednesday to open up conference play. With the win the Vikings move to 2-2-0 overall and 1-0 in the UMAC while the Eagles fall to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

It didn't take long for Bethany to get things rolling in this one, as Danny Pilot came up the left side of the field from his defensive position and swung in a perfect cross to the far side that Ezekiel Human was able to knock past the Eagles keeper for an early 1-0 lead.

Bethany would continue to get their chances in the first half putting five shots on goal, with one of their closest looks not even being on net as Noah Philipsen sent a header just over the top of the bar in the 19^th minute. Bethany dominated possession in the first 45, with Nick Lundberg having to make just one save as the Vikings led 1-0 at the break.

In the second half, Northwestern came out strong on the attack and was matching the pace of the Vikings.  Daniel Almeida helped turn the tide though as he nearly got a goal in the 58^th minute that was saved out for a corner kick for Bethany. Lorenzo Falleti stepped up to take the kick and put it to the far post where Raheem Graham met it with a perfect header that found the left side of the net for a 2-0 Bethany lead.

The Eagles would continue to try to apply pressure late and started to fire as many shots on goal as they could when they got within striking distance, but Lundberg was there for each save to secure the win.

Lundberg played the full 90 minutes for Bethany, making four saves in the clean sheet.

The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday when they host North Central for a 2 p.m. contest.