The Bethel men’s soccer team finished last season with its best record in recent memory, going 14-5-2 overall and finishing third in KCAC play with a record of 7-1-1. The team made the post season once again where it lost a close game in the NAIA Region IV quarterfinals.
With a large contingent of last year’s team not returning for the new campaign, this looks to be a rebuilding year for the Thresher men. The team will lean heavily on returning players for leadership on and off the field. One of these returning players is NAIA Regional All-American Brady Coffman who will provide a solid foundation as goalkeeper. Lone returning senior and team captain Yenikah Fon will be anchoring the back line with Will Nagengast. The midfield will again be led by returning midfielders Josh Laubenheimer and Barry Harrison, and Aaron Hull will led in attack. The few freshmen who are joining the returning players will be expected to step on the field and contribute right way. In the back Fon and Nagengast expect to be joined by Braden Eschete and Andre Hernandez. Assisting Hull in the attack will be Kevin Galo.
Coach Moore says that while this could be a rebuilding year, the team has a good mixture of talent and hard working players. “I think we’ll be able to surprise some teams in the KCAC,” said Moore. “We have brought in some new faces that will be able to contribute right away, and with the leadership we have returning [to help] those players mature on the field, I think this could be a good year for us.” The Bethel College men’s soccer team completed one of its most successful seasons in years. With nine new faces in the starting lineup, it seemed this would be rebuilding year, but the unique strategy and game play that each individual brought to the program made the team a contender for the KCAC crown. Bethel finished the season 14-5-2 overall with a 7-1-1 KCAC record and qualified for the NAIA Region IV Tournament for the first time since 1998.
The Threshers opened the season with a 6-0 victory over Central Christian College and had several key victories throughout the year, including a 1-0 victory over Bellevue University. Bethel was on a seven-game win streak heading into the KCAC Tournament semifinals but lost 1-0 to Friends University for the second time this year. Bethel had a shot at redemption, meeting Friends in the NAIA Region IV quarterfinals, but came up short again, 3-2.
Several players received KCAC honors during the season. Forward Jason Wood,
senior from Spanish Town, Jamaica, was named a KCAC Player of the Week for his
two-goal performance against Sterling College in Bethel’s first KCAC game of the
season. Goalkeeper Brady Coffman, freshman from Newton, was also named a
KCAC Player of the Week. The Threshers had five players named to All-KCAC Teams: Emanuel Batu, a junior midfielder from Porto Alegre, Brazil, was named to the 1st Team, with Romeo Ngati and Galidore Ngapeth, both sophomore defenders from Cameroon, Gareth Hamer, freshman from Shropshire, England, and Craig
Bonnyman, freshman from Glasgow, Scotland, named to the 2nd Team.
The team loses six seniors: four-year letter winners Wood, Franklin Ekue, a
defender from Beltsville, Md. (originally from Cameroon), Aaron Gaeddert, a
forward from Leawood, Jordan Penner, a midfielder from Reedley, Calif., and Jon
VanMaren, a midfielder from Bonner Springs, along with Braden Dragomir, a
forward and goalkeeper from Salt Spring Island, B.C., who transferred from the
University of Maine in 2006.
Our goal is always to be successful, but I feel with the group of guys we have coming together for this season the potential for success is unlimited, and that we are at the mercy of ourselves once game time rolls around. — Head Coach Steve Ralos
Bethel currently sits last in the KCAC with a conference record of 0-2-0 and 0-9-0 overall. Bethel has scored just 2 goals this season, while allowing 31. Earlier this season, Bethel lost 3 consecutive overtime games, including to current # 24 Baker KS (1-2) and # 44 University of Science & Arts of OK (1-2) , and have also lost to # 3 Hannibal-LeGrange College MO (0-1) and # 37 Rogers State OK (0-8). The Threshers are on a five game winless, scoreless streak.
Sterling stands at 1-1 in the conference and 7-3 overall, with a 6-2 victory against Southwestern in their most recent game.
In 2007, Bethel defeated Sterling 3-2 in 2 OTs (with a goal by Ryan Covey and a Bethel "own goal"), in 2006 Sterling won 2-0 (on goals by Ryan Covey and Jorge Bueso) and in 2005 Sterling won 3-2 (goals by Tyler Adam, DR Smith and Ryan Covey).
The year's game will be played in Thresher Stadium on Joe W. Goering Field in North Newton KS.
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