Bethel soccer teams dominate the Swedes
The Thresher soccer teams grabbed their first wins in conference play after the women won by forfeit and the men dominated Bethany in a 5-1 win, led by Maksimovic's hat-trick
After a disappointing result against the Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles, the men's and women's soccer teams were eager to get back on track and secured their first wins in conference play.
With a forfeit from Bethany’s women's team, the Thresher women were awarded an automatic 3-0 win, making it their first win in conference play. The men also got their first win, sending the Swedes back to Lindsborg with a 5-1 loss, thanks to a Maksimovic hat-trick.
The Bethel men had a rapid start as in only two minutes, Filip Maksimovic would make it 1-0, with the help from Gabriel Okita, a freshman from Braine-L'alleud, Belgium, playing a perfect ball over the top to the sophomore from Belgrade. The Serbians didn't stop there though, as sophomore left-back, Andrija Mitkovic caught a ball of the bounce and delivered it directly into the bottom right corner a few minutes later.
Mitkovic stated, “It was a good experience to score like that, but the main goal was to win the game and keep our composure for the whole 90 minutes.”
20 minutes later, the Swedes got one back to make the score 2-1 with a free kick sent into the box. This added motivation for Bethany didn't last long though, as Okita would drive down the left wing, cut inside, and send a beautiful finessed shot into the right corner.
The teams would head into halftime with a score of 3-1, with Bethel leading. Bethany's defense would be more composed and connected, but the Threshers still broke through once more in the 66th minute, and again in the 68th to finish the game at 5-1. The two late goals would come from none other than Maksimovic. This would complete the sophomore striker's first hat trick of the season.
“It always feels good to help my friends, because at the end of the day, we are a team and this means more because of that,” Maksimovic stated.
Head coach Luka Milicevic started eight underclassmen on the night and eventually was able to sub on 11 new players, giving some of the reserves players a start to their first-team careers.
Milicevic said, “I am honestly very happy with our recruiting class so far. We started eight freshmen or sophomores in this game. Also, we got to play a lot of our guys from the bench. It’s a good feeling to reward players for their hard work.”
The KCAC play will resume on Saturday, as the men and women will take on the Friends Falcons, who are coming off a 2-1 win against Evangel, at home in Thresher Stadium. The women will start the day at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the men will follow immediately after at 1:30 p.m.