ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the 2025 season on Tuesday afternoon, falling 2-1 at home to St. Scholastica in MIAC play. Despite scoring early and outshooting the visitors, the Royals couldn't recover from two first-half goals by the Saints.

Bethel (7-1-2, 3-1-0 MIAC) opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Nathan Hunt netted his second goal of the year, finishing a well-worked play assisted by Jordan Ross and Dylan Magistad. But the early lead didn't last long.

St. Scholastica (1-7-3, 1-3-0 MIAC) responded in the 17th minute with an equalizer from Louis Maerker, then took the lead just before halftime as Truls Wichstrom-Johansen scored his first goal of the season in the 42nd minute.

The Royals created several chances in the second half, finishing with 13 shots (6 on target) and earning seven corner kicks, but couldn't break through a resilient CSS defense. A turning point came in the 60th minute when Nathan Hunt was shown his second yellow card, forcing Bethel to play the final 30 minutes a man down.

The loss snaps Bethel's unbeaten start to the season, but the Royals will look to bounce back quickly in another key MIAC matchup this weekend.

Up Next:
Bethel returns to action this Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting Gustavus Adolphus at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.