MISHAWAKA, Ind. - The top-seeded Pilots of Bethel sent the fifth-seeded Marian men's soccer team home with a 3-1 loss on Wednesday evening in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinal. 

Both teams were creating chances early to start the game, but it was Marian becoming the aggressors first as Sebastian Gonzalez had a header on goal that was saved by the Bethel keeper. Around five minutes later, Evan Dawdy got in on the action with his first attempt of the game before Gonzalez fired one off to the goalie. Bethel took their first two shots of the half, both being off target. The momentum seemed to be on the Knights' side as they created more chances in the early minutes, but it was the Pilots finding the back of the net first in the 37th minute to take the 1-0 lead.

The remaining minutes of the first half were all Bethel as they fired off one more attempt that found the hands of Alvaro Rueda, keeping the score at 1-0 going into the break. Despite the goal, the first half proved to be fairly evenly matched, with Marian trailing 5-4 in shots and both teams having two on goal attempts. 

Bethel wasted no time to get the offense going in the second half as they scored at the 49:38 mark to extend their lead to 2-0. Marian answered back in under a minute with a goal coming from Kameron Hooker to cut their deficit back to 2-1. The Knights quickly tried to build upon their goal with an attempt coming from Hooker that was blocked. The Pilots went on the attack next over the next few minutes, firing off two shots and a corner kick, which eventually led their third goal of the night. 

With the game at a 3-1 score, favoring the hosts, the game was put on pause for a lightning delay. After the delay, neither team seemed to not be able to create as the game would go into another delay and eventually be called at the 77:37 mark. Bethel would go on to win 3-1. 

Bethel outshot Marian 11-8 and led in corner kicks 3-2. In Marian's eight shots, Gonzalez led with four, while Hooker added two and scored on one of his attempts. Romaric Berneron and Dawdy each shot once. Rueda made three saves and allowed three goals on the night. 

With the loss, Marian falls to 12-5-2 on the season. The Knights will eye an at-large bid in the NAIA Tournament after receiving votes in the men's soccer coaches poll earlier today. The field will be announced on Monday, November 13.

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