The Buena Vista Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams hosted the Wartburg Knights in another doubleheader matchup in the J Leslie Rollins Stadium this past Tuesday, Oct. 9. 

With unfavorable conditions due to the heavy rain and high winds, both teams would have to endure mother nature as well as the dangerous Wartburg teams. 

Women’s: 

Kicking off first at 5:00 p.m., the Women’s team (1-9) got off to a poor start after the Knights (8-4-1) came rushing down the field with their attack. 

Wartburg kept the ball moving in BVU’s third of the pitch with straightforward passes and through balls down the wings. Wartburg would record seven shots by the 27th minute, with five of those being saved by Buena Vista’s keeper McKeely Tjaden. 

Wartburg would break through just a minute later as Kate Luers found herself on the end of a ball in BV’s box, and subsequently netted it past Tjaden. Luers would then double Wartburg’s lead and her total in the 35th minute with another goal. 

Entering half, the Knights led 2-0. 

However, the floodgates opened for Wartburg coming out of the break as a frenzy of goals in the 58th, 63rd, and 66th minutes would add three more to Wartburg’s score. 

At the final whistle, the Beavers would fall to the Knights at 0-7. 

McKenna Whitehill recorded BVU’s only three shots of the game, with two of them being on target. Tjaden also saved 12 shots directed towards her net. 

Head Coach Sheena Van Roekel saw positives in Buena Vista’s drive to win and is still proud of the way her team fought for victory. 

“The fight the ladies brought to Wartburg is a testament to never giving up, no matter the opponent or the conditions the weather throws our way. No matter which team you represent, this kind of weather is going to arrive at some point in any given season. The ladies took to the challenge and didn’t hesitate to push back,” said Van Roekel. 

The Beavers would also play American River rival COE this past Friday and lose that matchup 0-7 as well to the Kohawks. Their next game will be against Central at home starting at 5:00. 

Men’s: 

Coming off of a big 2-2 tie against the former American Rivers Conference leaders in the Simpson Storm, the Beavers (0-11-1) were still chasing their first win of the season against the Knights (7-5).  

Immediately following the women’s game, the men first invited pressure from Wartburg before applying some of their own. BV’s first big chance of the game came in the 6th minute. Eugenio Rosiles, a Storm Lake native, forced a save by Wartburg from the right side of goal. 

From there on, Wartburg marched down the pitch strong and fast, winning the ball at the midfield level to keep possession countless times. Manuel Aguilar came up big for Buena Vista multiple times in the first half providing vital saves when the Beavers needed them. 

After a pair of chances coming from Cris Miller and David Arona were scuffed, the two teams would enter halftime at 0-0. 

Wartburg’s changes during halftime worked well to stifle the Beavers’ offense, and the Knights racked up time in possession over the course of the second half. 

However, the center back trio of Miller, Ryan Exline, and Kevin Edgar stepped up for the home team. Edgar in particular kept the Knights at bay and raced to oncoming shots for multiple blocks.  

Buena Vista would find their offensive form again in the second half, as Gum Riak led the charge. However, the poor weather conditions prevented either team from fully capitalizing on the chances they produced, and the score remained deadlocked until late on. 

After a pair of corners were won by Wartburg in the 87th minute, the Knights finally broke through. The second corner’s delivery was bounced around inside BV’s penalty area, before finding the feet of Sam Thomann who powered it past Aguilar. 

Wartburg would take the first lead of the game and hold it for two more minutes to secure a victory, 1-0. 

Edgar and Aguilar shined for Buena Vista in the heartbreaking loss and showed impressive sign of improvement across the backline. Head Coach Ben McArthur was disappointed with the loss but is looking ahead to key games to finish the season. 

“This time of year, moral victories are not ideal. We had a great result vs Simpson but were unlucky against Wartburg. We need to get some points in the remaining four conference games to keep our conference tournament goal in mind,” said McArthur. “We will try to build on the things that we did well and make a run here at the end of the season.  One thing about my guys is they always play hard.” 

The Beavers next game will be against the Central Dutch, at home. That game will kick off at 7:30, following the Women’s game.