BEAVER FALLS — In Germany, Laura Ludes was a defender for the past 12 years of her girls soccer career. Her home was in the backfield, though she always wanted the excitement that comes with scoring.

As a senior for Beaver River she made the switch to attack, and the 6-foot exchange student proved to Thousand Islands in a Frontier League “C” Division game that she’s nearly impossible to take off the ball once she’s in control.

“I’m so happy that I can play in front in the game,” Ludes said. “I can shoot goals.”

Ludes — who is the current scoring leader for Beaver River — recorded the game-winner in the Beavers’ 1-0 victory on Wednesday.

“She’d rather be playing forward and not playing defense,” Beaver River coach Wanda Joslin said. “She likes the glory of being up on that front line.”

Ludes’s goal came in the 47th minute as she worked the ball down the side of the field with a Thousand Islands defender right on her heels. As she approached the corner, she was able to fire a shot at a near-impossible angle that ricocheted off a Vikings defender in front of the net.

“Oh, I think it was luck,” Ludes said. “I want to play to the net.”

Beaver River (12-3-1 overall, 12-2-1 league) faced a huge challenge defensively as they were focused on shutting down the speed and skill of Thousand Islands (13-2).

While the Vikings’ Courtney Henry causes trouble for opposing defenses with her speed, Jamie Wiley is also an offensive threat with her ability to change the field. But the Beavers’ Ashley Widrick and Emily Zehr were ready for the Thousand Islands attack.

“We switched some things around,” Zehr said. “I switched up to center-half, and Ashley switched back to stopper so she could mark Courtney Henry. It obviously helped us.”

Widrick snuffed out repeated attempts by Henry to blaze down the sidelines, and kept up with the Frontier League’s scoring leader. When Henry attempted to go around Widrick, she anticipated the dribble, cutting Henry off before she could make a move.

“I’m pretty sure everybody was up on their toes,” Widrick said. “We were pretty much ready for this game.”

Thousand Islands was shut out for the second game in a row following a 5-0 defeat to Lowville on Monday. Head coach Tim Filiatrault’s team could use a win in its season finale on Saturday at Sandy Creek, as only one point separates the Vikings and Beavers in the “C” Division standings.

“We just have to pull it together again,” filiatrault said. “We didn’t create passes. We didn’t create opportunities today.”