Both Bethel soccer teams fall in home opener against Hastings
The Thresher women fell 3-0 to Hastings on Wednesday while the men fell 6-3 with goals from Charalambous, Kristinsson and Braggs.
The Thresher women took a 3-0 loss against Hastings, currently ranked number 23 in the nation according to the week one NAIA coaches’ polls. The men took on the Broncos later in the evening and eventually fell 6-3 on Wednesday.
The Bethel women held strong on defense, with help from freshman goalkeeper Jacie Scott, recording three saves in the first 45 minutes of play, forcing the Broncos to head to the lockers with all to play for in the second half.
When the women stepped out for the second half, though, Hastings proved their rank and broke through in the 57th minute with a goal from the penalty spot. Only a minute later would the Broncos find the back of the net again, making the score 2-0 in the 58th minute.
“For the first sixty minutes, we held them on defense,” Stated head coach Ignacio Milla. They score a PK, and we have to start to risk a little more. That's part of the game. This is such a young group.”
Bethel looked to fight back from their deficit, finding the net two times; however, both goals would eventually be disallowed by the referee, which made it difficult for the Thresher women to find their momentum.
“It's little margins,” said Milla. “We score a goal that would make it 1-1, and it was disallowed. It would have allowed us to put a little pressure on them. The same thing when we're down 2-0. We get in the game, and they push back.”
Hastings would eventually tie the knot with a goal in the 87th minute, giving the Bethel women their second loss of the season with a final score of 3-0.
Although Hastings would be the women's second contest of the season, the men’s game followed directly after and would be their first game on record with hopes to get a strong start to the new season.
Head coach Luka Milicevic started three freshmen, as well as one transfer, giving the squad a relatively new look to the starting XI.
These freshmen, however, made an automatic impact on the Thresher offense. In the 17th minute, freshman Panagiotis Charalambous scored Bethel’s first goal of the season, from a set piece in a very packed 18-yard box. The goal was assisted by another freshman in Calvin Bell. This gave Bethel the 1-0 lead early on, showing that the newcomers were settling in.
After the first goal of the game, it was a physical and possessive-based contest. The referee handed out three yellow cards, two of them for the Threshers. Bethel broke the possessive deadlock though, as senior center-back Adalsteinn Kristinsson made a solo run from one box to another, finally making the Thresher men lead 2-0 in the 41st minute.
The Broncos would take that goal personally, however, and make it 2-1 just before the end of the first half.
When both teams re-entered the pitch for the second half, it was once again physical from both sides, as the referee showed four yellow cards to Hastings and three to Bethel. After the sixth yellow took place, freshman winger Aden Braggs bagged his first collegiate goal in the 55th minute, giving the Threshers their third and final goal of the night.
In the 59th minute, with the score at 3-1, the Broncos started their climb back with a goal to make it 3-2.
“I feel like at 3-1 we didn't do a great job of managing the game,” stated Milicevic. “We did not react well to the momentum they were having after they scored their second goal.”
Hastings would go on to score in the 70th, 77th, and finally the 78th minutes to make the final score of the night 6-3 in favor of the Broncos.
After the game, Milicevic said, “This was a collective failure. I also think we weren't fit enough to last all 90 as we got banged up in the last 30 minutes with several players needing a sub.”
Both teams will look to rebound from the losses as they take on Central Christian on the road in McPherson. The games will take place on Saturday where the women will play at 5 p.m. and the men will follow shortly after at 7:30 p.m.