Week 4 of BVU athletics has quickly approached and each sport is beginning to get more intense with every passing game. This includes the BVU men’s and women’s soccer teams, who have been busy with a plethora of games that have not gone the way they wanted to. Optimism is what drives these teams, but with the past few games, it can be difficult to find any of it. 

The BVU Women’s soccer season did start off with some rather high hopes. On August 30th, BVU played their first game of the season against Martin Luther in a contest of little scoring, and big saves. BVU recorded 18 saves and only 5 shots, with 4 of those being shots on goal. As defense heavy as this game was, the hero wearing the cape for this game was Ella Wiebusch, who scored the only goal of the game, assisted by Brittini Thomas.  

This game would stand as the only win BVU has gotten thus far, losing 6 games in a row, with the latest loss coming at the hands of Minnesota Morris (1-2-0). In that game, played on September 15th in Morris, Minnesota, it took Morris 60 minutes to draw first blood, with the culprit being Sam Tate, assisted by Brook Lorentz. Sam Tate would also be responsible for Morris’ second goal as well, scoring in the 67th minute. In this game, however, the Beavers were able to bring home some positive takeaways. BVU had 14 saves compared to 16 shots on goal and committed less fouls in this game (5:7).  

BVU’s tumble out of the gate might prove dangerous as the season moves along. The next game in the schedule is a battle against Bethany Lutheran, who hold a record of 3-3, and are currently second in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference standings. That game happens on September 25th at Mankato Minnesota with a start time of 5 p.m. Then it’s back home where the Beavers start conference play against Dubuque, who are currently 5-1 and third in the ARC standings. BVU vs Dubuque happens on September 28th in Storm Lake at 1 p.m.  

Jumping over to Men’s soccer tells a different, yet similar story. The men started their season off against Martin Luther (2-5-1 today) as well where they were able to go toe to toe with the Knights all game long. Noah Bardwell got BVU on the board with a goal, assisted by Jose Martinez in the 13th minute of play. Lucas Martin of Martin Luther would respond late in the game with a goal of his own. Martinez made sure his team would not be pushed aside, and about a minute and a half later, he scored a goal for himself, making it 2-1 in favor of the Beavers. When the Knights were backed up against the wall, ready to accept defeat, Joe Graumann scored a late game goal at 89:11 to tie the game up at 2-2. This goal would be the exclamation point to an exciting and thrilling 10 minutes, but neither BVU or Martin Luther could put the ball in the net ending the game in a tie after the second overtime. Three BVU players, Cris Miller, Dylan Eggleston, and Noah Bardwell, would be hit with yellow cards during extra time and regulation, and two Martin Luther players, Joe Gruamann and Nate Lemke, would be given yellow cards as well.  

This game wasn’t the overzealous victory the Beavers were looking for, but the games to come would prove the might of this team. The next two games against Augustana and Dordt ended in ties as well, which proved to tucker out the Beavers as they have lost 3 straight dating back to September 7th against Grinnell. The most recent game against Minnesota Morris (1-6), seemed to be going BVU’s way, not allowing any goals throughout most of the game. This good luck came to an end when Gabe Arreguin of the Cougars scored a penalty kick to give them the score, and the eventual win, 1-0. In the same thought as the women’s team, the men did have some takeaways to think about, and things to improve upon for their next game. The Beavers recorded 3 saves compared to Minnesota Morris’ 9 shots, and did commit a whopping 14 fouls, a factor that can be cleaned up. 

The men’s team’s next opponent will be Crown College on September 21st in Storm Lake at 5:30pm. Crown currently sits at 1-4 on the season and 5th overall in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference standings. BVU vs Crown happens September 21st in Storm Lake at 5:30 p.m. Then it’s off to Bethany Lutheran, who currently stands at 4-2 overall and 3rd in the UMAC standings. That game goes down on September 25th in Mankato Minnesota at 7:15 p.m.