No. 7 Men's Soccer Falls in Top Ten Contest

Olathe, Kan., (Sept. 2, 2023)- The No. 7 Missouri Valley College men's soccer team went to Olathe, Kan., for a Saturday afternoon neutral site contest with No. 6 Mid-America Christian (Okla.).  The Vikings fell by a final score of 3-1.

The game started with both teams trading possession through the opening 15-minutes of play.  The first shot on goal came from Mid-America Christian with nearly 18 minutes gone in the contest, and Sophomore Goalkeeper Vicente Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) made the save.  Pressure was still kept up by MACU, and eventually the first goal was scored, midway through the half to put Missouri Valley in a 1-0 deficit.  Both teams struggled to create quality chances through the rest of the half, with the Vikings unable to create a shot on goal.  The game went into halftime with the 1-0 scoreline.

Mid-America Christian opened the second half with a quick goal in eight minutes of play after the restart to increase the advantage to 2-0.  The Vikings responded with their best opportunity, and Senior Midfielder Kazuku Hashimoto (Yokohama, Japan) cut the deficit in half, off an assist from Junior Forward Sam Green (Bromley, England), to make it a 2-1 score with 13 minutes played in the second half.  Benitez Delgado made his second save of the contest near the 71-minute mark, and Senior Forward Lorenzo Fagiani (Rome, Italy) had a shot saved by the MACU keeper less than four minutes later.  Missouri Valley was unable to find the equalizer as the second half played on, but Mid-America Christian tacked on another late goal with just over one minute remaining on the clock to hand the Vikings a 3-1 defeat.

Hashimoto scored the goal for Missouri Valley, with Green registering the assist.  Benitez Delgado made two saves in goal.  Missouri Valley held a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 0-2 on the season, while Mid-America Christian improves to 4-0.

Up next, the Viking men's soccer team hosts No. 16 Grace (Ind.) in a non-conference game, Monday at 3 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.

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.