MINNEAPOLIS – North Central men's soccer hosted and defeated The University of Northwestern-St. Paul Tuesday afternoon in a close game to open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play. The Rams held off the Eagles to secure a 2-1 victory in Elliot Park.

The first goal of the afternoon came from an Isaac Smith (St. Paul, Minn./North St. Paul) corner kick and was sent into the back of the net by Joe Kornbaum (Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls). At the end of the first half the Rams led the Eagles 1-0. Shortly after halftime the Eagles got on the board from a Rolando Barclay goal. But twelve minutes later the Rams would score again from Josue Boutouli (Lome, Togo/Eagan) for his third goal of the season. A strong, defensive effort in the last ten minutes helped the Rams lock down and keep the Eagles from scoring again. Gabe Hartwig (Eagle River, Wis./Northland Pines) led the Rams with 12 saves a few of which kept the Rams in the game.

This is the first time during Jake Smith's tenure as Head Coach that the Rams defeated The University of Northwestern-St. Paul. The last time the Rams were victorious over the Eagles came during the 2003 season. The Rams improve to 4-1 on the season and will face Finlandia at home on Friday afternoon at 5:15 p.m. Live stats and video can be found here. With this win the men carry momentuem heading into UMAC conference play on Saturday at Bethany Lutheran at 4:15 p.m.