MISHAWAKA, Ind. — It was Alumni Day for Bethel Pilots Men’s Soccer (4-0-2) with a great crowd and full seating for the match-up against the Madonna Crusaders (3-1-2) on Saturday afternoon.
The Pilots put up two shots with Sami Charaf Amal missing wide right in the 25th minute and Andres Gonzalez Maza putting one on net that was saved by Madonna’s Afonso Henrique. Charaf Amal fired another in the 35th minute on frame but was knocked away.
Gonzalez Maza nailed the first Pilot goal in the 46th minute from a smooth pass by Jona Toussaint in the box that connected with Maza to take the 1-0 lead. Later in the 63rd minute, Gonzalez Maza deflected a header from Manuel Garcia for his second goal of the match and the season to grow the lead to 2-0.
Gonzalez Maza and Manuel Garcia are both two goals away from catching Piero Sabroso for the team goals leader; Maza and Garcia with two and Sabroso with four this season.
“We were more consistent in the second half and were able to create better chances with the volume of possession we had,” said head coach of the Pilots Thiago Pinto, “We learned a lot about ourselves and need to build upon today.”
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots host the Judson Eagles at Morey Field on Tuesday, Sept. 10 with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Eagles are 2-1-1 this season coming off a 3-2 win over Mount Mercy and a 4-0 win over Waldorf. Earlier in the season, Judson lost to Clarke (IA) 2-0 and tied the Marian Knights 2-2.