DANVILLE, Va. — Eirik Nordseth's second goal of the afternoon lifted Methodist University to a 2-1 victory over the Averett men's soccer team in conference action on Saturday afternoon.
 
Nordseth broke away from the Cougars defense, took the ball up the center and buried his shot to give Methodist (7-4-3, 4-0-2 USA South) the lead in the 36th minute.
 
The Monarchs got on the board first when Nordseth took a feed from Fredrik Aalberg and slipped past Averett's defense for a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the match. Averett (5-9, 4-3 USA South) found an equalizer 16 minutes later when freshman David Cuperman took possession of the ball from the Monarchs' defense in the middle of the pitch and made good on his attempt, putting the score at 1-1. However, Nordseth's goal gave Methodist the lead going into the half, a lead it didn't relinquish the rest of the way.
 
Despite the loss, the Cougars have still won three of their last four games and are now tied for fourth place in the conference with N.C. Wesleyan College. The top four teams in the conference will get to host a playoff game on Oct. 31.
 
Averett returns to action on Oct. 23 when it hosts Covenant College at 6:30 p.m.