Mankato, Minn. – One day after suffering their first conference loss to Martin Luther, the Crown men's soccer team played to another stalemate in a non-conference battle with Bethany Lutheran.  Friday's score against the Knights was 3-1 while the second clash with BLC ended in 2-2 draw.

On Friday, Crown jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a screamer from Austin Higginbotham, who scored with a left-footed strike from outside the box.  The Storm couldn't hold on to the early lead, however, conceding the equalizer with six minutes remaining in the first half, and allowing a pair of seconds half goals.

Goalkeeper Justin Loa hit double digits with 10 saves, while David Jensen assisted on the opening goal.

Another tough battle with Bethany Lutheran was set for Saturday and once again Crown jumped out to the early lead.

Crown got an early goal from Jensen and played a fantastic first half.  The Storm then opened the second half with a quick goal from Derick Boese to jump ahead 2-0.

Once again, the lead would not hold as some defensive lapses led to a pair of Viking goals in quick succession just after the half hour mark.  Neither team could gain much of an advantage through the remainder of regulation time or either overtime period, with the two squads settling for their second draw of the season.

Nathan Reichenbach got the start in goal and played well, making eight saves.

Crown returns to UMAC action this Wednesday with a conference clash against North Central in Minneapolis.