DECORAH, Iowa (Blugolds.com) – With two goals very early in the game, the UW-Eau Claire soccer team was able to defeat Luther College (Iowa) 2-1 today.

Just two minutes and 49 seconds in to the game, Rachel Nerison (Sr.-Maple Grove, Minn.) got the Blugolds on the board with an assist from Brittany Burant (Sr.-Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH).

Less than a minute later, Allie Stone (So.-Madison, Wis./Verona Area) scored her first goal of the season, the eventual game-winner. Nerison assisted on the goal.

Luther scored its lone goal at 18:24 and that was all the scoring for the rest of the game.

The teams each had 11 shots, with five of the Blugolds' being on-goal compared to four for the Norse.

Nina Behrenbrinker (So.-St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) played all 90 minutes in-goal and made three saves.

The Blugolds improve to 5-3-1 on the season while Luther drops to 3-5. Eau Claire hasn't lost in five straight contests to the Norse. The Blugolds' last loss to Luther was in 2003.

The Blugolds begin a five-game home stand next weekend. Eau Claire will first take on UW-Platteville in a conference game next Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

-KM-