Bethel soccer teams split with Central Christian, women fall to William Woods
Bethel soccer teams split with Central Christian, women fall to William Woods
SaJous completes her first hat-trick against Central Christian.
On Wednesday, the Bethel women’s and men’s soccer teams took on Central Christian at home. The women’s team came up on top 4-1 while the men’s team fell 1-0. The women’s team then took on William Woods on Friday and eventually lost 4-1 in that contest.
The Thresher women hadn’t had a game since their scrimmage in the preseason due to a forfeit of contest earlier in the week. Central Christian would be their home opener.
In the opening minutes, Bethel looked to keep possession of the ball. The Threshers finally went up on the scoreboard 17 minutes into the game with a goal from Ashley SaJous, assisted by Sydney Brown. That was not enough for SaJous as she put another one behind the net seven minutes later to go up 2-0 going into half-time.
Coming out of half-time, they put the ball past the net 2 minutes into the second half. Brown found the net for the first time this season, as she was assisted by Jazlyn Reese.
“I don't get a score very often,” Brown said. “I'm glad that I got the score and get myself in a good position for the rest of the season.”
Just like in the first half, the Threshers would find the net seven minutes later as SaJous would complete her first hat-trick bringing the score to 4-0.
“It means a lot to me [to get a hat-trick],” SaJous said.” That was my first game back from my ACL injury, so I had something to prove to myself. I'm very appreciative of my teammates. I'm excited to be back and playing on the field with them again.”
The Threshers were not able to keep the clean sheet as Central Christian got on the board with 9 minutes left in the contest. In the final minutes of the game, the Threshers looked to keep possession of the ball the rest of the match to earn their first home win of the season.
“I was very happy with the girls last night, and we improved a lot from what was our first scrimmage,” Head coach Ignacio Milla said. “This is definitely a team win, and it was very nice to see that play out in the field.”
The men's soccer team was featured in the later contest of the night. The message was to control the game from the start and to keep possession of the ball.
Central Christian went up in the first half with 16 minutes remaining for the only goal of the match.
The Threshers were able to recover after the goal and started keeping possession of the ball. Bethel looked to create more chances going forward as the match went on.
“I think it was a tough game,” Cristobal Goldberg said. “It was a tough loss for us, but we performed well. I think we performed the best in the second half, and then we just didn't get our chances.”
Bethel was able to dominate the game in the second half of the game. The Threshers were not able to get the ball in the net. This would mark the second loss of the season for the men’s soccer team.
“I was pleased with the effort. Collected Teamwork was there,” Head coach Luka Milicevic said. “I mean, in this sport, if you don't use your opportunities, you're gonna get punished, and that's what happened to us.”
The women’s team would close out the homestand on Friday playing against William Woods. It would be a special game for both coaches, as head coach Ignacio Milla coached there, and assistant coach Iker Gonzalez played for the Owls in college.
The Threshers were looking to keep the momentum going from Wednesday’s game. It was short-lived as, nine minutes into the game, the Owls pulled out in front. Five minutes later, William Woods found the net to bring their lead to 2-0 going into halftime.
Twelve minutes into the second half the Owls once again found the net. Five minutes later, the Owls would put in their fourth goal of the game. Bethel would respond a minute later with a free-kick goal from Brown. The final score would end up being 4-1.
“I said to the girls, I mean, you have highs, and you have lows,” Milla said “We had a high on Wednesday. We have a low right now. They're playing their hearts out, and I think it shows, but we keep working.”
Both teams will kick off a five game road series. They will travel to Goodwell, Okla. on Tuesday to face off against Oklahoma Panhandle State with scheduled kick-off for the women at 5 p.m. and the men’s game to follow at 7:30 p.m.