MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- A moment of poor marking early and another one late helped the University of Minnesota-Morris to defeat North Central at home on Saturday night. The Rams got an equalizing goal early in the second half but the Cougars answered with a pair of scores in the final half hour to take a 3-1 win.

North Central (6-9-2, 4-5-1 UMAC) left a few players unmarked on an early run into the box and the Cougars converted to make it 1-0 in the seventh minute. The Rams defense would settle in and play evened out the final 10 minutes before halftime and it remained 1-0 at the break.

The Rams gained control of play early in the second half and eventually got an equalizing goal from freshman Suraj Thomas (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) in the 54th minute. The goal was created on the break when sophomore Nick Walker (Spencer, Ind./Owen Valley) played the ball into space for junior Tyler Maag (Lakeville, Minn./) who took it down the right touch line before laying in a perfect cross that was headed home soundly by Thomas.

Play would be evened out for the next ten minutes before the Cougars would get in front once again, this time for good in the 67th minute. With plenty of time for another equalizing goal for the Rams they found tough resistance from the Morris defense.

The door slammed shut in the 85th minute when the Rams once again allowed a player space in the central area in front of net and that space opened up room for passes that ended in the final Cougars goal. 

Despite the disappointing result on Saturday, North Central has still earned the program's first ever spot in the UMAC Playoffs. The team will finish fourth in the regular season and host the fifth seed in a playoff game in two weeks. The goal scored by Suraj Thomas is the first of his NCU career.

North Central will be back in action again on Tuesday when they travel to Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) for the final Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game of the year. The Rams and Vikings are scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.