Scott Heinen celebrates with Xander DuMoulin and Leo Spry after the duo combined for the team's third goal of the contest.
SAINT PETER, Minn. – After a scoreless first half, the Gustavus men’s soccer team used a strong second half to defeat Bethel 4-0 Wednesday. With the win the Gusties improve to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference while Bethel falls to 6-8 overall and 1-6 in the MIAC.
“Definitely happy about the reaction at halftime,” said Head Coach Tudor Flintham. “It’s a little bit cliché, but we were about as bad as we could be in the first half and part of that was because Bethel played really well and had a few chances to score and go up on us before the half. But, again the guys played well and reacted, resetting the game plan and playing some really composed and beautiful soccer in the second half.”
The team’s battled in the first half, with neither team gaining a ton of chances. Gustavus outshot Bethel 7-5 in the frame and although each team had a few quality looks, they played scoreless the first 45 minutes.
It wasn’t until the 57th minute that the Gusties found the net. Scott Heinen (Jr., Aurora, Ill.) took a corner that he placed right in front of the net where Max McLaughlin (Fy., Urbandale, Iowa) tried to direct in, however, his shot missed right. With the ball sailing to the right of the goal and nearly going over the end line, Cody Billins (Sr., Farmington) someone kept it in play with a header of his own and placed it back out near the front of the net. Raphael Cattelin (Fy., Edina) was then able to position himself to play Billins’ ball and he was able to use his head to direct it into the top right corner of the net to give the Gusties a 1-0 lead.
The game played back and forth for about 15 minutes before Gustavus took over in a heartbeat. Off another Heinen corner, Leo Spry (Jr., Bemidji) was able to direct one into the left side of the net at the 72nd minute to put the Gusties up 2-0.
Less than four minutes later, Xander DuMoulin (Fy., Excelsior) had an excellent run up the right side and was able to outrun the Bethel defense and force the Royals goalie to come out of the net, where he played a pass in front of the net to Spry for his second goal of the game.
Gustavus wasn’t done there, as in the 82nd minute Nick Katzman (Fy., Minneapolis) took a shot that was played in front of the net by his teammate, Cole Schwartz (So., Jakarta, Indonesia), with Schwartz redirecting it in for his 13th goal of the season.
Wesley Sanders (Fy., Urbandale, Iowa) got the win in net for Gustavus, making two saves.
The Gusties will next be in action Saturday as they host Carleton for a 1 p.m. contest.