WICHITA, Kan. — On a cold and rainy Thursday night, the Pilots NAIA National Tournament run ended with a 2-0 loss to the NAIA 18th-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers.
The Pioneers struck first in the 30th minute on a cross from Tom Chartier that found Rick Hovinga on the left side of the box to go into halftime 1-0.
With the final minutes winding down, Bethel had a free kick that found the head of Luan Bressy but went wide left. The Pioneers scored the deciding goal on a two-versus-one breakaway in the 90th minute, with the Pilots down one player due to a red card and securing a 2-0 finish.
Bethel is now 9-13-2 overall in the NAIA National Tournament after completing their 13th appearance and finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 18-3-3. Against NAIA top-25 opponents, The Pilots ended the season 5-1-2.