ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Bethel's Keegan Mellema scored the game-winning goal in the 56th minute, and the Royals went on for a 4-2 win Wednesday at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
 
Mellema converted a header off of a free kick from Mathieu LaFrombois to put the Royals up, 3-1. Bethel added to the lead in the 80th minute when Jack Hanson stripped a defender and beat goalkeeper Alex Paredes (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) for a 4-1 lead. 
 
Senior Blake Doyea (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) pulled one back in the 86th minute as he finished the play from eight yards out after a feed by William Maanstroem (Oestersund, Sweden/Jaemtlands Gymnasium). Phillip Eriksen (Skjetten, Norway/Lorenskog) started the sequence with a cross from the right side.
 
Trailing, 2-0, at halftime, Eriksen put the Yellowjackets on the board 47 seconds into the second half. Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) found Eriksen with a pass from the right side and Eriksen tapped it in from the six-yard box.
 
Matthias Caspari scored two goals seven minutes apart midway through the first half to build the lead for Bethel. Caspari's shot on an angle snuck inside the post for a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. LaFrombois started the play for his first of two assists on the day. Then, Caspari finished off a throw in at the back post to double the advantage.
 
The Royals held a 15-13 edge in shots with 10 on target. Paredes made save for Superior while Colin Hupert stopped six shots to earn the victory for Bethel.
 
With the win, Bethel improves to 2-0-0; the loss drops UWS falls to 0-3-0.
 
The Yellowjackets return home Saturday to open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play against Northland. Kickoff at NBC Spartan Sports Complex is slated for 7 p.m.