Men’s Soccer Opens Season with Rout in Texarkana

TEXARKANA, TX – The Bethel Wildcats opened their soccer season Monday at Texas A&M- Texarkana. The match was delayed for over two hours with inclement weather in the area.

After a scoreless first period, the Wildcat offense hit its stride with a second half explosion.

Six minutes into the period, Sergio Baquena put the Cats ahead with a goal and they never looked back. Baquena would add another goal later in the half. He scored eight goals for the Wildcats last season. Newcomer Isaac Stanley scored two goals in his Wildcat debut. Mountaga Sall and Adrian Musubi added scores as well. Nicolas Ruiz was credited with an assist on Baquena's second strike.

Bethel keeper Norberto Lima Vieira had five saves in the match. Bethel had a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.

It was the fifth meeting between the two programs with Bethel now holding 5-0 advantage in the series. They are 3-0 in Texarkana.

Coach JJ Malang said, "The first half wasn't pretty but we regrouped at the break and had a nice second period. We stuck with it and prevailed."  

The Wildcats return to action Friday at noon at Tennessee Wesleyan.

Live stats:

https://bethelathletics.com/sports/msoc/2022-23/boxscores/20220826_hger.xml