NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's soccer team used a 3-2 win over Martin Luther College on Friday that, combined with other results around the UMAC, clinched a berth in the UMAC Tournament for the Cougars. The wild second half between the Cougars and Knights on Friday saw all five goals scored in the second half, with UMN Morris doing just enough to get the victory. The win improves Minnesota Morris to 6-9-0 (6-4-0 UMAC) on the season.

The Cougars put together a solid first-half display, but the match moved to halftime at 0-0 despite 11 shots in the opening frame from Minnesota Morris. Five of those shots were on goal, but Grace Sievert made five saves for Martin Luther, including three on Cougar forward Kim Peters.

Soon after the restart, Martin Luther opened the scoring in the 48th minute with a goal from Avery Broyles after she was played forward on a pass from Nicole Porter and had a clear run in on goal.

The match remained 1-0 in favor of the Knights until Minnesota Morris turned the match on its head in the 68th minute. Peters found the back of the net twice within 23 seconds to turn a one-goal deficit for the Cougars into a one-goal lead. The first came off of a goal kick and the Cougars controlled the ball off the bounce and then moved forward with numbers until Peters was able to fight off a defender and finish to tie it at 1-1. Right off the restart, Minnesota Morris dispossessed Martin Luther and Peters was in an advanced position to take advantage of a pass from Monica Calderon and find a corner of the goal to beat Sievert again.

An offside call in the 80th minute kept the Cougars out in front after a lofted shot from Martin Luther fell to a Knight attacking player but they were ruled to be past the last defender when the ball was played in on Bernadette Cienik. Martin Luther did tie the match in the 84th minute though, as Lilianne Zimpelmann evaded Cienik and had a wide-open goal to shoot into.

Less than two minutes later, Calderon re-established order with just over five minutes to play as Martin Luther misplayed the ball in the box and the junior was on the spot to take finish it off. Chloe Keller was credited with the assist on the game-winner. The Knights managed two more shots down the stretch, but one was off-target and Cienik made a save off a shot from Porter in the 89th minute.

Minnesota Morris ended with an 18-12 edge in total shots, with 10 of those coming on goal. Peters ended with eight shots in the match (six on goal), Calderon had four (three on goal), and BeBe Say ended with three. Cienik made four saves on the afternoon.

The Cougars wrap up a five-match road trip tomorrow with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato.