NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's soccer team put two goals in the back of the net in the first half and then held on following a late Martin Luther College goal to win the UMAC opener, 2-1. The win puts the Cougars at 1-4-0 (1-0-0 UMAC) on the season.

After dominating the early minutes of the match, Minnesota Morris paid that pressure off with the opening goal from Burke Sheppard in the 15th minute. Gavin Tarbox played the ball to Cooper Jones, who swung a cross in towards Sheppard at the top of the box. A well-played touch off his chest left the ball in the perfect position for the first-year forward to slot home into the lower corner of the goal.

The Cougars survived a scare in the 27th minute as Nick Isensee batted away a tough cross from the right wing. The ball stayed inside of six yards and it took a collective defensive effort from the back line to finally clear the ball away and maintain the goal advantage. Just five minutes later, Minnesota Morris doubled its lead as Matt Gearou had a clean header on a corner kick from Carter Watkinson to put the Cougars in front, 2-0.

Minnesota Morris continued to have better opportunities throughout the second half, but failed to add onto its two-goal advantage. With just over one minute remaining, Martin Luther scored off a cross from the right corner of the pitch to suddenly make the final seconds interesting at 2-1. On the restart, Minnesota Morris worked the ball up the field and barely let the Knights out of their own side of the field to seal the victory.

Isensee made two saves in the win for Minnesota Morris. Watkinson finished with five shots (two on goal), while Tarbox and Jones each added four.

The win for the Cougars was the 100th of Head Coach Scott Turnbull's career at UMN Morris.

Minnesota Morris comes home on Saturday to host the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 2 p.m.