SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team hosted the Bethel University Royals for a conference match on Saturday afternoon for senior day. The Gusties defeated the Royals 4-1, and improve to 12-4 overall and 6-2 in the MIAC.
“I think we started really well scoring two early goals, and that intensity was tough to keep up after that first 15-20 minutes,” said Head Coach Tudor Flintham. “But they did what they had to do and we had some strong individual performances. The overall highlight of the day was being able to get every senior on the pitch today. Having eleven out of the twelve end the game on the pitch playing well, is a memory I hope they keep with them moving forward.”
The program honored its twelve seniors on Saturday; Scott Heinen (Sr., Aurora, Ill.), Trace Dobson (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), Matthew Gibbons (Sr., Minneapolis), David Jansen (Sr., Roetgen, Germany), Jack Killian (Sr., West St. Paul), Nolan Garvin (Sr., Batavia, Ill.), Conrad Cronin (Sr. Lincoln, Neb.), Tim Whiteman (Sr., Brainerd), Cole Schwartz (Sr., Jakarta, Indonesia), Nicholas Leach (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), Daniel Decker (Sr., St. Louis Park), and Leo Spry (Sr., Bemidji).
Gustavus started the scoring early when Ethan Miller (Fy., St. Cloud) took the ball off of the Royals goalkeeper and tapped it into the back of the net at the 6:16 mark.
Less than two minutes after the opening goal, Owen Johnson (Fy., Apple Valley) dribbled the ball into the eighteen and passed to Dobson at the back post to score what proved to be the game-winner. The Gusties outshot the Royals 11-5, taking a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half.
Looking to add an insurance goal 12 minutes into the second half, Finn Dowling (Fy., Chaska) passed a deflected ball off the eighteen cooly into the bottom left corner for a 3-0 Gustavus lead.
The Royals retaliated with a goal of their own the cut off the Gustie shutout, but Alex Krumenauer (Fy., St. Michael) answered back two minutes later off of an Ethan Glissendorf (So., Sioux Falls S.D.) pass.
Wesley Sanders (So., Urbandale, Iowa) earned the win, making five saves and holding the Royals to one goal.
Gustavus is next in action when they travel to Hamline on Wednesday for a 3:30 kick-off.
“Every game at this stage feels like it means just a little bit more because the margins are so thin. We just need to take a day off tomorrow to mentally and physically recover. And some compound fatigue is definitely setting in, but it’s setting in with all teams and we just really need a sharp training session on Monday. Hamline is a tough team, they’re compact and extremely hard working, so it will be another one where we have to really earn the win.”