Mishawaka, Ind. – The Marian men's soccer team had a tough battle on the road Saturday night as they made the trip to No. 12 Bethel, and suffered the 2-1 loss to the Pilots. With the loss, the Knights move to 3-6-2 overall and 0-2-1 in Crossroads League play.
Bethel's defense seemed to be the story in the first half by not allowing Marian to find any sort of offensive groove. The visiting Knights were unable to produce any shot attempts in the first 45 minutes of play, while Bethel was able to find themselves five shot attempts. Although Bethel's offense seemed to be in full force, Brendan Weiger did his part by making three saves of the three shots on goal the Pilots fired at him in the half.
In the second half, the Pilots came out aggressive from the start. Going scoreless in the first half, they came out to score their first goal of the night by wasting no time by hitting the back of the net in the 50th minute behind the efforts of Luan Bressy. The host continued their offensive tear, as Peiro Sabroso got in on the action chipping one in past the Marian keeper a little less than two minutes later to take the lead 2-0.
The Knights continued to search for their first shot attempt in the second half with the strong Pilot defense posing a threat, but at the 67:30 mark, Nate Van Keulen was able to boot one past the Bethel goalie to cut the lead back 2-1. The momentum shifted to Marian for a moment, but the Pilots kept firing off shots and their offense was too much for the Knights. The host ended the half with six shots to give them 11 for the match, while Marian's lone shot came from their one goal.
Van Keulen led the way for the Knights, posting the only shot and goal for the team. Weiger played the full 90 minutes in the net, making four saves and allowing two goals.
Marian will be on the road again for the next matchup, taking on St. Franics (Ind.) on October 8 at 3 PM.
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