MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's soccer team won its third straight game and the eighth of its last nine on Wednesday night as they defeated Crown 3-0. With the win the Vikings move to 11-6-2 overall and 10-2-1 in the conference while the Polars fall to 9-9-0 overall and 9-4-0 in the UMAC.

Bethany would open the scoring in this one in interesting fashion, as Daniel Almeida would score a goal 14 minutes in thanks to persistent effort on the attack. The Vikings would fire off a few shots that would be blocked and saved with Almeida taking one and falling on the ground in the process. When he stood back up, the Polar goalie attempted to clear the ball and Almeida would throw his body in front and the ball would bounce off his chest and into the back fo the net for the score.

From that point forward, the Vikings would control a majority of the rest of the first half, with Crown pushing late with a few shots and corner kicks but Nick Lundberg would stand tall in net for the 1-0 lead at the half.

The Vikings would get a few more chances early in the second but it wasn't until the 71st minute that they would connect. Diogo Cavalcanti would get a clean shot off and find the back off the net after some great combination play from Jamie van Wijland and Almeida to put them up 2-0. Cavalcanti would then score again just five minutes later following a Polar red card in the 74th minute, as he would get another open look thanks in part to the one man advantage with assists from Almeida and Danny Pilot.

Bethany would shut the door the final 15 minutes, keeping the Polars scoreless for their eighth shutout in the last nine contests with Lundberg making three total saves in the match. 

With the win, the Vikings secured the No. 2 seed in the upcoming UMAC Tournament and will finish their regular season with a 1 p.m. match