ATLANTA, Ga. --- The Life University women's soccer team provided the heat on a damp and cold October day at Silverback's Park today, upending No. 16 University of the Cumberlands in Mid-South Conference play 1-0 to continue the team's mid-season charge to the conference tournament.

Life University's (10-6-0, 7-4-0 MSC) improbable rise in the Mid-South Conference rankings continued today, clinching the fifth seed for the conference tournament that starts next week, while pushing No. 16 Cumberlands (Ky.) (12-4-1, 6-4-1 MSC) down to the sixth seed with today's victory. Despite the weather conditions, from the opening kick Life U looked like the better team, controlling the pace of play throughout the tightly contested match. Neither team got off many first half shots, but Mathilde Sletner made her one shot count, scoring her first goal of the season in spectacular fashion. After kicking a corner, the sophomore collected an attempted Patriots' clear, kicking a missile of a shot off the outside of her foot into the opposite corner of the net to give the team a 1-0 first half lead. Backline defenders Madison Knutsen and Rebecca Noren made excellent plays to help limit Cumberlands (Ky.) to only two shots during the half. Both team's offenses created more opportunities in the second half, but the Running Eagles continued to maintain offensive and defensive momentum to steer the team to the 1-0 upset victory.

Sletner stands out as an obvious player to mention as having a good game, providing the lone score of the game on an excellently played ball, but a player that does not show up much on the stat line that made huge plays was Knutsen. She consistently closed out to the ball in a hurry, taking away potential shots and scores from the Patriots.

In a game that ended as closely as it did, the stats followed suite, Life U holding a slight 13-10 edge in shots taken, while the Patriots were up 5-4 in corner kick opportunities. Defensively, the Cumberlands (Ky.) took a 4-2 lead in saves recorded. When it comes to the refs, neither team was called on too many fouls, Life U leading 7-6, but the Patriots were awarded three yellow cards.

With the end of the regular season, the Running Eagles will return to action Monday in the opening round of the Mid-South Conference tournament, playing host to Freed-Hardeman in the 5-12 match for a 1 PM meeting at Franklin Gateway.