Soccer splits with Saint Mary on Senior Night
On Wednesday, the Bethel men’s and women’s soccer teams took on Saint Mary at Thresher Stadium for Senior Night. The women finished strong with a 6-1 victory while the men fell short with a 4-0 loss.
In the first 35 minutes of the women’s game, the Threshers scored four straight goals to take a quick 4-0 lead before halftime. After halftime, the Spires scored their lone goal as the Threshers put away two more to make the final score 6-1. Grace Anderson, Katy Ponce, and Claire Hedlund had exceptional performances — each were one goal away from hat tricks.
Senior Taylor Dashney from Edmond, Okla. said, “[That] performance was exactly what we’re capable of. We moved the ball around and were confident in the box. The six goals from Katy, Grace, and Claire were very well deserved. Our season has been very up and down, and ending on a high note was great.”
Head coach Luka Milicevic said, “I think the girls, especially with 50 percent of the players being seniors, were motivated and showed in the first half that we can play and that we should have played like that the rest of the season and keep our hopes for the playoffs are alive.”
In the men's game, the Threshers fell to the Spires, 4-0, after a strong start in the first half before losing focus in the second.
“We need to be more clinical in the last third of the field and score the chances we create so we can be calmer and control the game,” junior Lucas Pardo from Uruguay, Montevideo said. Sophomore Adalsteinn Kristinsson from Kópavogur, Iceland added, “Going into the second half we lost focus and got some bad calls from the ref and conceded. We lost momentum.”
“This was a big game, and I told them that in the locker room,” Milicevic said. “We’re fighting for the playoffs and I felt like the first half was really good. We created a lot of chances to score and missed a couple but in my speech after the game, I mentioned that we [tend to] lose focus when it matters the most and that's what happened.”
Despite the men’s result, Milicevic is grateful for the seniors in a major transitional period for both programs.
“This senior class played a vital role in building this program into what it is today,” Milicevic said. “I’m extremely sad to see them go but at the same time very proud because I know they’ll go on to change the world for the better.
Their love and care are what made this program better and their hard work won’t go unnoticed. I’m thankful to all of these seniors alongside the assistant coaches who all demonstrated strong leadership skills and sacrificed a lot of their time to make this last run one to be remembered.”
Both squads will be back in action in York, Neb. on Saturday to face the Panthers.