The Bob Jones University Bruins men's soccer season came to an end on Thursday night as the team fell to #1 seeded North Central University 2-1. With the loss, the Bruins were eliminated from the NCCAA DII National Tournament and end the season at 5-14-1.
"We faced some adversity this year with disappointing outcomes in many close games," Bruins Head Coach Jesse McCormick said. "I'm proud of our guys and the effort and improvement they have made this season. I am most excited about the growth I've seen from the guys off the field this year. I am very excited about what the future holds for our program."
The Bruins came into the match, having already learned they couldn't advance to the national championship game. Because of the group play results and tiebreaker rules, the Bruins couldn't advance no matter the outcome. Still, the team held their heads high as they took the pitch one more time hoping to play the role of spoiler against the top-ranked Rams.
Like they had done in their previous match, the Bruins came out with great pressure early on as the Bruins were able to create three different looks in the first two minutes of the game. Things seemed to be going the Bruins way until the 8th minute when Austin Healy headed home a goal for the Rams on their first shot attempt of the match to make it 1-0.
The Bruins came right back on the attack hoping to find the answer quickly. The team had several more chances throughout the half but couldn't seem to find the back of the net as they trailed 1-0 at the break. The Bruins had outshot the Rams 8-3 in the half, but still found themselves playing from behind with just one half to play.
In the second half, the Bruins looked to equalize as Karl Walker had a shot opportunity that sailed high. The Bruins kept up the pressure and looked to be finding avenues to score when disaster struck again as a defensive mishap opened the lane for Henry Puchuela as he netted the goal for the Rams to give them a 2-0 lead.
With just over 20 minutes to play, the Bruins now found themselves in a big hole. Still, the team continued to battle and finally found the scoring column as Andrew Peterson threaded a pass to Jacob Kester who finished the play to put the Bruins down 2-1. Despite several chances in the closing minutes, the Bruins couldn't find the equalizer as they fell 2-1 to the Rams.
The Bruins outshot the Rams 17-9 in the match including a 5-4 on-goal margin. Despite their pressure, the Bruins couldn't capitalize on key chances as they drop their final match of the season. With three seniors leaving the squad this year, the Bruins will have several holes to fill but a core group of returning underclassmen present a bright future for the program.
