Men’s Soccer Falls in Final Non-Conference Tune-Up

Campbellsville, Ky. – The Bethel men’s soccer team dropped their second match of the year to NAIA No. 12 Campbellsville on Saturday afternoon to the tune of 3-1. The Pilots fall to 6-2-1 on the season ahead of next week’s Crossroads League opener.

The Tigers (6-1-0) put the pressure on the Pilots early, forcing Philip Keller to make two saves in the first six minutes of action. The Pilots responded with three shots of their own before the 12-minute mark of the first half. However, the Tigers broke through first, converting on a penalty kick in the 19^th minute to gain the 1-0 advantage early. The Pilots continued to put the pressure on the hosts, with five more shots in the next twenty minutes but could not find the back of the net. In the 40^th minute, the Tigers broke through to take a 2-0 lead.

Just before intermission, tempers flared as two yellows–one for each bench–and a red card—to Ronaldo Fuentes—were issued in the 42^nd minute. With the send-off on Fuentes, the Pilots had to play a man down for the rest of the match for the second straight match.

The Pilots missed an opportunity early in the second half as Samuel Biek had a penalty kick denied by the Tiger goalkeeper in the 47^th minute. The action continued to go back-and-forth in the second period as both keepers held serve until the Tigers found the net for the third time in the 71^st minute to take a commanding 3-0 lead. After being denied an opportunity early, Biek responded with a goal in the 78^th minute to bring the score to 3-1 but the Pilots could not get any closer as the Tiger defense made the necessary stops to close out the 3-1 victory.

Keller made six saves, while Biek put three shots on goal to lead the Pilots. The Pilots notched 16 shots, putting eight on goal on the afternoon.

“I thought we played the game very well against a good team,” commented Head Coach Thiago Pinto. “We created many great chances to win the game in both halves. We were unfortunate in a couple of situations including the PK and red card that impacted the result of the game. I’m proud of how hard our team worked playing a man down in the heat. We need to be humble and work hard this week to make sure we continue to grow.”

The Pilots return to action next Saturday for their Crossroads League opener against rival Grace for a 7:00 pm kick-off in Winona Lake.