No. 4 Seed Men's Soccer Falls to MidAmerica Nazarene in National Tournament

Marshall, Mo., (Dec. 2, 2024)- The No. 4 seed Missouri Valley College men's soccer team played in the third round of the 2024 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship in Wichita, Kan., Monday evening against MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.).  The Vikings tried to rally late in the game, but fell by a final score of 2-1.

Missouri Valley opened the game with a pair of corner kick opportunities in the first five minutes of play, but could not produce a shot on goal.  The Vikings came back at the 14-minute mark with their first quality attempt, as the shot from Senior Defender Kazuki Hashimoto (Yokohama, Japan), was saved.  Senior Midfielder Yoshiki Igarashi (Tokyo, Japan) followed just over one minute later, but his shot was also saved.  Junior Goalkeeper Cristobal Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) came up with his first save 16 minutes into play.  Igarashi added another attempt on goal midway through the half, but could not score the go-ahead goal.  The two teams traded possession over the next stretch of play until the 33-minute mark when MidAmerica Nazarene scored to move in front, 1-0.  Both teams were unable to create another quality chance through the rest of play in the half, and MVC went into the break trailing by one goal.

The Pioneers tested Benitez Delgado early in the second half, putting a shot on goal with five minutes played, which was saved.  MidAmerica Nazarene came close to extending its advantage nearly four minutes later, as a shot hit off the crossbar.  Igarashi created the first chance on goal for Missouri Valley in the half, midway through play, but the shot was saved.  Benitez Delgado was needed for another save just over one minute later.  With just over 16 minutes remaining in the contest, MVC was called for a foul inside its penalty box, resulting in a penalty kick.  The Pioneers took advantage of the chance, and increased their lead to 2-0.  The Vikings put together a number of chances late in the game, and eventually cut into the deficit with a goal from Hashimoto as the game went under eight minutes remaining on the clock.  Missouri Valley continued to pressure MNU late, and had a last-second shot from inside the box deflect off the post and away from goal, as the final score came out to 2-1.

Hashimoto scored his third goal of the season, while Cristobal Benitez came up with three saves in goal.  Missouri Valley held a 19-15 edge in shots, and created six corner kicks.

The loss ends the Viking season at 16-3-3, while MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 11-5-4 overall.   

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.