The Spires jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half. However, Bethany answered back as their leading scorer sophomore Megan Xavier scored unassisted late in the second. Less than six minutes later, freshman Amanda VanLoenen netted a pass from sophomore Jordan Johnson. The St. Mary offense came through with two goals of their own in the second half, downing the Swedes 3-2 and holding them winless in KCAC play.

"Our game Wednesday was a case of us playing well as a whole," said head coach Steve Moore, "but letting down on three to four plays and they made us pay for it."

The squad was scheduled to finish week with a battle at home against Sterling College Saturday evening, but the contest was rescheduled. "Our game was postponed due to the Sterling women's team having multiple cases of swine flu," Moore said.

Bethany ended the week 0-4 in the KCAC, currently at ninth place, and 5-7-1 overall.

"I thought overall we played better soccer, but that doesn't always translate into wins," said Moore. "The girls continue to work hard and have good attitudes. We are just waiting to see that pay off on the scoreboard."

Still searching for their first KCAC win, the Bethany women traveled to Bethel College Wednesday evening. The Threshers took a 1-0 lead in the first half before the Swedes tied the game in the second half off an unassisted goal my Xavier. Bethany would grab the lead less than 20 minutes later as Xavier netted a pass from senior Kristin Palmer. However, despite ten saves by junior Sarah Garlock, Bethany could not hold on as Bethel tied the contest three minute later, and then scored once again late in the game to hand the Swedes a 3-2 loss.

"We didn't play well in the first half at all," Moore said. "We switched things around at halftime and played better, but we can't play for 45 minutes and expect to get the results we want."

The squad then hosted the rescheduled Sterling game Thursday night. The rescheduled game night proved lucky for the Swedes as they scored two first half goals just five minutes apart. "We had good success with doing the things we worked on in practice," said Moore.

Xavier first scored off a VanLoenen assist before freshman Kristen Biggs netted her first goal of the year off a pass from freshman Lindsey Pfenninger. Bethany held the Warriors scoreless in the second half to grab the win, breaking their five-game losing streak and earning their first conference victory of the 2009 campaign.

"We scored early and were up 2-0 at halftime, and that got us going in the right direction," Moore said. "We didn't score in the second half, but played well. It was all around a good effort."

The Swedes rounded out the week by hosting Kansas Wesleyan University Sunday afternoon. "We played really well, but have been banged up," said Moore. "We only had 11 players available for us to play."

The Swedes played well defensively, only giving up two goals, but were unable to net any goals of their own.

"We gave up one goal each half, which is the best we've ever done against Kansas Wesleyan in the three years I have been here," Moore said.

Bethany is now 1-6 in the KCAC, putting them in ninth place, and 6-9-1 overall. The squad hosts Friends University on senior night, Wednesday, October 28 at 5 p.m. before a match-up with McPherson on Halloween Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

"If we play against Friends like we have played the last two games, we should get a good result," said Moore.