No. 12 Men's Soccer Falls to No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan on the Road

Bartlesville, Okla., (August 27, 2024)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's soccer team traveled to Bartlesville, Okla., for a Tuesday evening Nationally ranked non-conference contest with No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan.  The Vikings fell behind early, and could not overcome the deficit in a 2-1 defeat.

Play started with an early chance on goal created by Missouri Valley, as Senior Defender Alejandro Lujan (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) had a shot saved with two minutes off the clock.  The two teams traded possession over the next several minutes, and Oklahoma Wesleyan created its first quality opportunity with just over seven minutes played.  This shot went into the MVC goal, and put Oklahoma Wesleyan in front, 1-0.  The two teams traded possession, corner kicks and shots through the rest of the half, but the teams could not create another chance on goal through the halftime break.  The Vikings went into halftime trailing by one goal.

The second half featured MissourI Valley unable to put a shot on goal through much of play.  The Vikings were forced to play much of the second half down one player, as a red card was shown less than nine minutes into play.  Oklahoma Wesleyan tried to increase its lead midway through the half, with a series of shots that needed to be saved.  Junior Goalkeeper Cristobal Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) came up with three saves over a four-minute stretch to keep the score at 1-0 with just over 21-minutes played in the half.  Junior Midfielder Julius Kruger (Berlin, Germany) tried to tie the contest with a shot near the 81-minute mark, but his attempt was saved.  The gap grew moments later, as OKWU scored once again to make it 2-0.  Freshman Forward Oliver Baladi (Frederikssund, Denmark) put another shot on goal for MVC with less than four minutes remaining, but a shot from Junior Forward Leul Alfagame (Madrid, Spain) in the final moments beat the keeper to put Missouri Valley on the scoreboard.  However, the Vikings fell by a final score of 2-1.

Missouri Valley held a 10-9 advantage in total shots, and created six corner kicks.

Missouri Valley falls to 1-1 on the season.  Oklahoma Wesleyan improves to 1-0.

Up next, the men's soccer team plays its first home game of the season, hosting Bethel (Kan.), inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium, Sept. 4, at 7:30 p.m.

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.

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