Bethel soccer teams split with Southwestern
Bethel soccer teams split with Southwestern
The Thresher men win 3-1 while the women fall 7-1 in home contests.
Both soccer teams welcomed the Southwestern Moundbuilders on Saturday at Thresher Stadium. The women's team would drop another home game to the Moundbuilders 7-1 while the men would roll over Southwestern 3-1.
The Threshers, still battling some injuries, wanted to turn the page. The women’s team had hopes of picking up its first conference win.
Southwestern took control of this match within three minutes of the opening kickoff. Four minutes later, they put another one behind the net. It would bring the score to 2-0 within the first 10 minutes of the contest.
Bethel stopped the Moundbuilders from doing more damage for most of the first half. Twenty minutes later, Southwestern found the net three times in 10 minutes. The score going into halftime would be 5-0.
“We had a very tough first half, we got scored on pretty early on two defensive mistakes,” said head coach Ignacio Milla.
Despite having a rough first half, the girls were resilient. The Moundbuilders found the net five minutes coming out of halftime.
The Threshers would get a goal as senior Claire Hedlund found the back of the net. Southwestern would put one more goal away to bring the final score to 7-1 in favor of the Moundbuilders.
“Despite the loss, we put in a lot more effort; if we continue to want it the way we did in the second half, then we’ll be back on track,” said freshman Briseis Gomez from El Paso, Texas. “Being back on the road this week I think we’re ready to fight for some results and put in the effort for two wins this week.”
The men's team would look to keep on winning on Saturday against the Moundbuilders. Coming off an impressive victory on Wednesday night, Bethel hoped to build on that. Southwestern would be a great test for the Threshers.
Bethel established control from the start of this game by keeping the ball away from the Moundbuilders. The Threshers would look to swing the ball from side to side, trying to find the pickpocket of space.
It wouldn't take long in this contest for the Threshers to pull out in front ten minutes into the game with a goal from freshman Filip Maksimovic. He would be assisted by junior Adalsteinn Kristinsson. This would bring Maksimovic to an impressive five goals on the week.
“The team performed well; we had great chances in the first half,” said Kristinsson from Kópavogur, Iceland, “The guys have been itching all week to get another win over McPherson like we did last year.”
Southwestern tied the game at 1-1, coming from a quick counterattack. That would be all the damage that would be done for the night.
The Threshers would get behind the ball and dominate the possession of it. Bethel went up 2-1 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half. Senior Mussawir Ahmed would receive the assist from another senior Louis Etienne.
The Threshers would retain the possession of the ball for most of the second half, allowing Southwestern to do nothing. Bethel iced the game with a goal from freshman Aleksa Obrina, bringing the score to 3-1. Bethel would see out the game-winning 3-1 and pick up two conference wins in their homestand.
“We want to keep riding this wave of positive results,” said head coach Luka Milicevic “I am very confident in my players to come out and get all 3 points.”
Both teams will be on the road again this week. They will be in action on Wednesday as they travel up the road to McPherson to take on the Bulldogs and the Evangel Valor on Saturday. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and 2 and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.