PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Dunia Wangu (Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) scored the go-ahead goal and Matt English (Sr.-Cheyenne, Wyo.) made a stop on a penalty kick late as the Lakeland University men's soccer team came back in the second half to defeat Wisconsin Lutheran College 2-1 Wednesday night at a chilly Taylor Field.

The Muskies pinned the Warriors with their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference defeat to shake up the top of the conference standings with a satisfying win that snapped a four-game losing skid. Lakeland also defeated WLC for just the second time in the teams' last 13 meetings in improving to 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the NACC.

The Muskies spent a good share of the first 60 minutes on their heels as Wisconsin Lutheran (7-3-2 overall, 3-1-2 NACC) largely controlled play. That included the Warriors taking the lead four minutes into the second half, as a free kick by Tony Bedolla into the box was redirected by Titus Kostrzewa to Cole Luedke, who while facing away from the goal deflected it backwards with his left foot into the net to make it 1-0.

Lakeland saved its best for late, though, getting better as the second half went on. The Muskies also capitalized on their limited offensive opportunities, including their first in the 62nd minute. Aldo Rangel (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) sent in a corner kick that Jordan Davis-Troller (Jr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) headed toward the goal. Dirk Dell Adema (Jr.-Howards Grove, Wis.) was in the right place at the right time, and he finished with a hard, high shot just under the crossbar to tie the game at 1-1.

A goal kick as the clock approached 15 minutes left in the match would trigger what would be the deciding play. The ball bounced twice past midfield before Porter Gigstead (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) won the loose ball, trapped it and quickly fed a pass to his right to Wangu on the run. The reserve forward ran onto the ball and then with a hard chip beat WLC goalkeeper Puma Galvan from 15 yards out to give Lakeland its first lead of the match.

The next 10 minutes were a tense struggle until a foul was called on the Muskies in the box, giving Wisconsin Lutheran a penalty kick and a chance to tie. Defender Jack Leffel took the kick, but English made a dive to his right and deflected the shot away to preserve the lead. Lakeland was able to run out the final minutes, even putting together an offensive push with Tony Genco (So.-Columbus, Wis.) able to get off a shot that was blocked and resulted in a corner kick. The Warriors made one final push in the last minute but did not get a shot off, with Genco, Rangel and Brendan Perry (Sr.-New Baltimore, Mich.) all clearing WLC cross attempts.

English earned his first win in goal for Lakeland after coming on in the second half for starter Zach Heiman (Sr.-Racine, Wis.) shortly after Lutheran's first goal. English made two saves and cleared several other crosses in 36 minutes, 21 seconds of work.

Wisconsin Lutheran outshot Lakeland 4-0 in a scoreless first half and finished with a 9-3 advantage in shots for the game. The Muskies scored on two of their three shots, though. Heiman also made four saves as Lakeland goalkeepers recorded all four saves in the match.

Lakeland goes on the road for its next game, facing Illinois Institute of Technology Saturday at 1 p.m. in Chicago.