Men's Soccer 10/20/04 -- Bethel 3, Augsburg 1

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/20/04) -- Scoring three goals in an 11-minute span midway through the first half, Bethel University claimed its 10th win of the season with a 3-1 triumph over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer game Wednesday night at Edor Nelson Field.

Ryan McKellips (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn./Meadow Creek HS), Reed Thunstrom (Fr., Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) and Ben Powers (Jr., Elk River, Minn.) scored for the Royals, who are now 10-4-1 overall, 5-1-1 in MIAC play.

Augsburg's winless streak was extended to five straight games (0-4-1), as the Auggies fell to 7-7-2 overall, 1-5-2 in MIAC play.

McKellips opened the scoring in the 26th minute, heading in a high pass from Peter Halvorson (Jr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS). Three minutes later, Thunstrom, last week's MIAC Player of the Week, scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season on a feed from Maurice Ndjouma (Sr., Cameroon).

Powers completed the scoring in the 37th minute, one-timing a deep right-side feed from Rich Alberts (So., Maple Grove, Minn.), putting the Royals up 3-0 at the break.

Augsburg played more aggressively in the second half, outshooting the Royals by a 16-7 margin and claiming nine corner kicks. However, the Auggies could only score once, as Mike Elcano (Sr., Sparks, Nev./Bishop Manogue HS) scored his team-high 14th goal of the season on a one-timer from Mark Cohn (Fr., Anoka, Minn./Blaine HS).

Thanks to the second-half flourish, Augsburg ended up outshooting Bethel by a 23-8 margin, and claimed a 10-4 edge in corner kicks.

Lucas Grant (Sr., Starbuck, Minn./Minnewaska HS) made nine saves for the Auggies. Bethel split duties, with Eric Berg (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) playing the first half and claiming two saves for the win, and Matt Eberhardt (Jr., Mahtomedi, Minn./Concordia Academy HS) playing the second half and notching six saves.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (10/23) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg playing at Carleton and Bethel hosting Hamline.