WINONA, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran men's soccer team took a 2-1 loss to Saint Mary's on Tuesday night with a close call on a Bethany foul in the final 30 seconds being the deciding factor. With the loss, the Vikings fall to 1-1-0 on the season, while the Cardinals improve to 2-1-1.

The first 45 minutes of this contest played scoreless, but that didn't mean it lacked action. The two teams both played a physical style from the get-go, with the that physicality dictating the flow of the game with stoppages wrinkled throughout the contest. In the first frame, the Vikings outshot the Cardinals 11-2 including three shots on net, but the Cardinal keeper stood tall and the teams headed to the break tied at zero.

After the halftime break, both offenses came out clicking and each mustered some solid chances early. First it was Saint Mary's who had what looked like a sure goal, when a low cross left a player with just Nick Lundberg to beat from about 10 yards out, but Lundberg made a sprawling save to keep things scoreless. Lorenzo Falleti then took a beautiful shot that hit the right crossbar just two minutes later but SMU averted the threat and kept the game at 0-0.

With just under 18 minutes to play, Bethany was awarded a free kick and, after some deliberation between Liam Peterson and Falleti, Peterson set up to take the kick. With a wall in front of him, Peterson touched a pass from the set piece about 10 yards to his right where Falleti struck one into the left side of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Viking defense stood stall and defended a few good chances before a great shot from a Cardinal midfielder turned into the equalizer, as he swung a shot into the top right corner in the 84^th minute.

With the two teams nearing what seemed to be a draw, the Vikings made one last push and seemed to be gaining some momentum until a loose ball turned to the Cardinals with 30 seconds left. The SMU defender launched a pass up ahead where there was just one Bethany defender and one Cardinal offensive player chasing it down. The pass traveled over half the length of the field and a foul was called on the BLC defender, with the foul occurring right on the edge of the box. The officials had a tough angle on the call due to the length of the previous pass, and a penalty kick was awarded due to the difficulty in determining the spot, with Saint Mary's converting with 20 seconds left to claim the win.

Lundberg totaled three saves in a contest in which the Vikings outshot the Cardinals 17-10.

Bethany will be back in action on Saturday for their home opener when they host Carleton at 3:30 p.m.