MANKATO, Minn. - Bethany women's soccer opens the 2025 UMAC postseason tournament 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against UW-Superior. The Vikings earned the No. 2 seed with a 9-2-1 record in the UMAC (9-7-2 overall), while the Yellowjackets earned the No. 3 seed with an 8-1-3 league record (9-7-4 overall). The winner of Wednesday's semifinal matchup will face the winner of No. 1 Northwestern and No. 4 UM-Morris on Saturday at the high seed for the playoff title and automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships. 

TICKETS
• $15 | Adults
• $10 | Seniors
• $10 | College Students
• $10 | Youth (Ages 6-18)
• Free | Ages 5 and Under
• Free | Any UMAC students, faculty, and staff with a valid and current institutional ID 
• No other passes will be accepted 

UMAC TOURNEY
Bethany is making its seventh consecutive appearance (13th overall) in the UMAC tournament and second straight as the No. 2 seed. Last season, the Vikings defeated Northwestern 5-1 in the semifinals before falling to UW-Superior 4-0 in its first ever championship match. The Vikings hold an all-time record of 3-10-1 in UMAC tournament games and are seeking their first playoff championship. 

THE SERIES
Wednesday's matchup will mark the 31st meeting between Bethany and UW-Superior with the Yellowjackets owning a 17-10-3 advantage in the all-time series. 

LAST TIME THEY MET
Bethany defeated UW-Superior 2-1 last Friday in Superior, Wis. 

Riley Ping slipped through the Yellowjacket defense in the ninth minute, giving the Vikings the early lead with her sixth goal of the season. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the visitors after 45 minutes with Superior leading 9-6 in shots. 

Elena Luján Rubio netted her career-high 20th goal of the season in the 48th minute, which proved to be her third game-winner of the season. Luján Rubio is now tied with Madison Perry (2017-21) with 57 career goals, which is the program record, and is one goal shy of tying the single season goal record, also held by Perry who scored 21 in 2019. 

UW-Superior maintained most of the pressure throughout the game, out-shooting the Vikings 20-9 overall and 10-7 on goal, and the pressure paid off with a goal with 1:35 left in the game, but it was too little, too late. Arayah Baker made a number of impressive saves and finished with nine stops. 

UW-Superior won the first matchup of the season 4-0 on Oct. 4 in Mankato. Superior netted the game-winner (Niamh Larson) just three minutes into the game and controlled the pace of play for most of the contest. The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead (Julia Lindow) into halftime with a 7-3 advantage in shots. The visitors added goals in the 66th (Larson) and 87th (Abby Carlson) minutes to seal the victory while out-shooting the Vikings 13-9 overall. Shots on goal were even at 5-5. 

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Bethany leads the UMAC with a 2.67 scoring average while allowing 2.44 goals per game (4th/UMAC). Elena Luján Rubio leads the league with 20 goals and 48 points this season. Her 20 goals rank fifth in NCAA Division III and are one shy of the program record while her 48 points are tied for third most in DIII and are most in Bethany history. Luján Rubio is tied for the program record with 57 career goals and tops the record book with 142 career points. Reese Moorad is second on the team with 18 points on seven goals and four assists while Mia Johnson and Riley Ping each have 15 points on six goals and three assists. Arayah Baker has spent the most time in net with a 2.07 goals against average and .776 save percentage. Baker owns a 7-5-2 record with three shutouts in 15 games played. 

SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
UW-Superior is looking to defend its playoff title, which it has won the past four consecutive seasons. Superior has the best scoring margin in the league at 1.20, averaging 2.45 goals per game while allowing 1.25. The Yellowjackets also have the highest save percentage at .795, led by Quinn Clark who has a UMAC-best 1.20 goals against average and .788 save percentage in 18 games. Niamh Larson leads the team with 11 goals (4th/UMAC) and tops the league with 10 assists. Her 32 points rank fourth in the conference. Kamryn Hill is second on the team with 22 points on nine goals and four assists.