Benedictine (Ill.) University scored late in the first half and added a pair of goals late in the second half to defeat the Lakeland College men's soccer team 3-0 Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match.

The Muskies controlled play for a good share of the first half but were unable to take advantage, and the Eagles did take advantage to improve to 5-6 overall and 2-1 in the NACC. Lakeland dropped to 2-9 overall and is now 1-3 in conference play.

The Muskies outshot Benedictine 8-7 for the match and spent much of the first half in their offensive end against a team that has finished in the top three in the league two straight years. Perhaps their best chance came just over six minutes in, when Zac Kline (Jr.-Luxemburg, Wis.) crossed a pass across the goal past Eagles goalkeeper Zorohn Reed, but just out of the reach of forward Charles Apostolik (Fr.-New Castle, Colo.).

Benedictine got on the board with just 3:08 left before halftime. Miguel Sanchez served in a corner kick from the right side, and Cristian Michalowski headed the pass into the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way until late in the second half. The Eagles scored their second goal when Francisco Delgado converted a Muskies turnover into his second goal of the season at 73:45. Benedictine added an insurance goal with just over three minutes left, with Erik Stammer scoring with an assist from Jonny Lehman.

Six different players combined to contribute Lakeland's eight shots, with Renan Asato (Jr.-Sao Paolo, Brazil) and Matt Moglia (Fr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) leading with two each. Thomis Mannebach (So.-Florence, Wis.) had three saves in goal for the Muskies.

Lakeland now begins a stretch of five consecutive matches in a row on the road. It starts Tuesday when the Muskies travel to Watertown to face Maranatha Baptist University in a non-conference match at 4 p.m.