MISHAWAKA, Ind. — After the Bethel Pilots Men’s Soccer team’s third straight trip to the NAIA National Championship and their second consecutive trip to the NAIA National Championship’s final site, the Pilots prepare for the 2024-25 season.
The 2024 NAIA National Champions MidAmerica Nazarene knocked the Pilots out of the tournament 2-0 after a rainy outdoor Quarterfinal match. In the Round of 16, the Pilots bested Westcliff University (Calif.) 2-0 in the first indoor match in the NAIA modern era due to snow accumulation on the outdoor pitch.
During the regular season, Bethel finished 18-3-3 and 7-0-2 in the Crossroads League en route to their 18th (fourth consecutive) regular season championship and defeated Grace 2-1 in double-overtime to win the Pilots’ third straight Crossroads League Tournament Championship (third consecutive).
In the 2023 campaign, the Pilots had a record of 5-1-2 against NAIA top 25 teams, including postseason matches. Bethel started the 2023 season after their 2022 NAIA National Championship and was ranked first in the NAIA Coaches Poll until their losses to Lindsey-Wilson (Ky.) and the University of the Cumberlands but stayed within the NAIA Top 25. The Pilots entered the postseason ranked ninth and hosted the NAIA First and Second Round for the second consecutive year.
Piero Sabroso led the Pilot offense with 26 points, 13 goals and three game-winning goals in his junior season. Tim Noeding led with eight assists on the season and Mathis Neuhaus, in his redshirt freshman campaign and first season as the starter, ended the season with a .769 save percentage, 80 total saves, and recorded six clean sheets.
NEWCOMERS
Jelle Born transferred to Bethel University from Lubbock Christian where he made the Third Team All-Conference team in the Lone Star Conference in 2022 and was named to the Lone Star Conference All-Academic team in 2023. Born is a graduate student who is working toward his MBA at Bethel.
Jovaunn Ramos comes to Mishawaka from the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) and is from Belmopan, Belize. Ramos adds to the midfield roster for his Graduate Student season with All-CCAC honors under his belt with a First Team All-CCAC honor in 2023, All-Freshman CCAC honor in 2022, and All-CCAC 2nd Team in 2022.
Miki Fujita travels across the world from Tokushima, Japan. He did his high school prep work at Tokushima Municipal High School before starting his collegiate career with the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In ’22 he played in 11 matches with nine starts for 635 minutes. He scored his only goal of the season in his first match of the year at Milligan (8/22) and picked up his only assist of the season vs Saint Xavier (8/27). Fujita had four shot attempts with all four being on goal. His next stop was to NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb where he appeared in five matches and started against ETSU for 89 minutes.
Manuel Garcia flew across the Atlantic Ocean from Cangas do Morrazo, Spain, and transferred from the University of Providence for his Graduate year and plans to earn his MBA. In 2019 Garcia earned CCC 2nd Team All-Conference honors along with CCC Ast. Team All-Conference in 2021.
Gabe Nyenka transferred from Holy Cross (Ind.) where he came to Mishawaka with an All-CCAC honor. Nyenka hails from Monrovia, Liberia but went to Park Center High School in Minnesota. While in high school Nyenka played in the Minnesota All-State game.
Miguel Aguilar comes to Bethel from Elkhart, Ind., and Concord High School. Aguilar played football for three years and soccer for four years for the Minutemen, helping them to two IHSAA sectional finals in football and one NLC final for soccer. In football, Aguilar was named a two-time All-State kicker and a part of the Elkhart Truth All-Area Team. For soccer, he earned an NLC All-Conference Honorable Mention honor.
Samuel Rosquel comes from Boca Raton, Fla., and Eastern Florida for his freshman season. Rosquel did his high school prep work at Florida Virtual School and plans to study Physics and Photography.
The Pilots enter the season opener with a NAIA preseason ranking of sixth and begin the season on the home pitch at Morey Field on Aug. 17 against the Holy Cross Saints at 7:30 p.m. with the pregame show on the Bethel Sports Network in conjunction with the Regional Radio Sports Network at 7:10 p.m.
For more information about Bethel Pilots Athletics check out bupilots.com or on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube by searching @bupilots or the hashtag #AnchorUp for updates on all 31 Bethel Pilots sports.