ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - In the final home game of the season the Bethel University men's soccer team made Royals fans leave happy with a 2-0 shutout of the Hamline University Pipers. Senior Danny Jaderholm executed a pair of beautiful kicks in the second half in his final home game to lift the Royals to the victory. The win caps off a strong showing at home this year for the Royals finishing with a record of 7-3-1 at the Ona Orth Athletic Complex.

The game was a defensive battle with both teams not scoring any goals and only two total shots on goal, both by the Pipers. The Royals broke the scoreless tie late in the second half when Danny Jaderholm scored on a free kick from 35' out, dropping a perfect shot over the goalie and into the back of the net. Twelve minutes later Brendan Reich was on a run into the penalty box when he was tackled from behind by a Piper defender resulting in a penalty kick for the Royals. Jaderholm converted going right with the Piper goalie guessing left, giving the Royals the 2-0 cushion they had the rest of way to pick up the win. The Pipers created a great chance for themselves late in the game but Kevin Hintz was able to stop a Hamline shot with the goalie not in the picture after making a previous save. For Jaderholm, the sixth and seventh goals on the season sets a new career high as he had previously scored five goals in a season twice before. Sam Asfahl was solid in goal with four saves for his fourth shutout of the season.

The win improves the Royals record to 9-7-1 on the year and 3-5-1 in the MIAC, with one game left in the regular season Friday evening as they travel to Macalester College. Kick off is set at 7:30 p.m.

The Royals still hold onto MIAC Playoff hopes needing a victory and some help in three other games. First the Royals need a victory over Macalester and then losses by both Augsburg (vs. St. Thomas) and Hamline (vs. Gustavus), allowing the Royals to jump into a tie for sixth place as long as Saint John's and St. Olaf do not tie their game on Saturday. With both Saint John's and St. Olaf at 13 points, which would be Bethel's total with a victory over Macalester, a tie would bump both teams to 14 points and leave the Johnnies and Oles both in the six-team playoff field (if Augsburg and Hamline both lose). A victory for the Oles would mean a tie for the Royals with Saint John's at 13 points and the tie-breaker would go to the Royals given their head-to-head victory. A victory for the Johnnies would mean a tie at 13 points with the Oles, and the Royals would take the second tie-breaker over St. Olaf (the two squads settled for a tie head-to-head). Bethel would have more conference victories than St. Olaf with the Oles at 3-2-4 entering the final game, while a Bethel victory over Macalester would be the Royals fourth. It is also conceivable that a three-way tie between the Royals, Saint Mary's and either Saint John's or St. Olaf could happen as well if the SMU Cardinals win their game against Carleton. In either of the possible three-way tie scenarios the Royals would not win any of the tie-breakers, leaving them out.