ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University men's soccer team was defeated on Tuesday afternoon by the Carleton College Knights despite a promising comeback effort. The Knights ultimately survived an action-packed final period by a score of 2-1.
The Royals fell into an early one-goal deficit after Carleton's Sam Hayward put in an improbable shot that glanced off the far post and into the back of the net. It was not the start the Royals had hoped for but they were able to keep the Knights off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half. Heading into halftime, the Royals had been outshot 8-3 but had once again kept the game close with strong goaltending and good team defense.
The second half yielded far more scoring chances for the Royals which was highlighted by Danny Jaderholm's bending free kick in the 67th minute. The ball curved its way past the Carleton goalkeeper to tie the game, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Unfortunately, the Royals suffered another setback in the 78th minute after Alex Griese notched his third goal of the season. The home squad was not able to overcome this final strike as they ultimately fired just eight shots compared to 20 for the Knights in the match.
"Today was a fun physical battle, like so many MIAC games," said Royals head coach Jeremy Iwaszkowiec. "The second half specifically was an entertaining affair with quite a bit of back and forth action. Jaderholm's set piece was a beautiful goal. I was very pleased with our intensity and effort. We competed well and just came up short.today. Thanks to all who came out and supported."
Bethel will now look ahead to this Saturday's matchup against Augsburg which will get started at 5 p.m.. This will be the first of two consecutive road games before they return to the Ona Orth Complex on October 10th to face Saint John's University.
