No. 12 Men's Soccer Falls to No. 5 St. Thomas at National Tournament

Wichita, Kan., (Nov. 27, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's soccer team played in the third round of the 2023 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Monday evening at Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan.  Playing on an indoor field, the No. 12 Vikings fell behind before halftime, and lost to the No. 5 Bobcats, 4-1.

The two teams traded possession at the start of the game.  The first chance on goal was created nearly seven minutes into play, as an attempt from Junior Defender Strahinja Djurdic (Brcko, Bosnia & Herzegovina) was saved.  The next quality opportunity came more than 10 minutes later, as Sophomore Goalkeeper Vicente Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) made his first save of the contest.  St. Thomas continued to apply pressure, and eventually drew a foul inside the Viking penalty box, resulting in a penalty kick.  The Bobcats scored on the PK opportunity, and went on top, 1-0, near the midway point of the first half.  Missouri Valley held the better of possession over the next several minutes.  Sophomore Midfielder Julius Kruger (Berlin, Germany) put a shot on goal near the 26-minute mark that was saved.  Junior Midfielder Malik Hasanovijk (Skopje, North Macedonia) also had a shot saved less than one minute later.  The Vikings worked three corner kicks during the stretch of play, but could not create the equalizer.  Both teams were held to without a shot on goal through the final 15 minutes of play in the half, and the score stayed, 1-0 at halftime.

Missouri Valley opened the second half with the better of chances early, as Junior Forward Sam Green (Bromley, England) had one shot saved and another blocked in the first five minutes of play after the restart.  St. Thomas worked back just over five minutes later, and added a goal to its total, pushing the advantage to 2-0.  Possession went back-and-forth between the teams over the next stretch of play.  Near the 75-minute mark, Green put a shot from outside the box off the crossbar and away from goal.  The Bobcats countered after the MVC attempt, and scored once again to make it a 3-0 scoreline with just over 12 minutes to play in the contest.  Another goal was scored less than one minute later.  Missouri Valley got one of the goals back late in the game, as Green scored on a penalty kick, but the Vikings fell by a final score of 4-1.

Green scored for the fifth straight game and finished the season with 17 goals and 45 points.  The 45 points ties a single-season program record, which he shares with Raul Beneit (2015).  Benitez Delgado made two saves in goal.  Missouri Valley held an 18-15 advantage in shots and a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

Missouri Valley ends its season with a record of 14-6.  St. Thomas improves to 18-1-2 on the season and advances to the quarterfinal round.

Box Score-Click Here 

ABOUT MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.