After finishing the 2023 season strong and adding a talented recruiting class, the 2024 Charger Men's Soccer team entered the Fall with high expectations. Friday evening, they opened the campaign in South Bend, taking on the Bethel University Pilots' Junior Varsity team. For a little context, the Varsity squad for Bethel comes into the season ranked #6 in the country at the NAIA level, so this was no ordinary JV team.

 

In the beginning of the contest, the Chargers started very slow, almost feeling things out, but it was causing them to play almost a step behind in many situations. Bethel capitalized early on and caught MUAC out of position, scoring the first goal of the season. The remainder of the half was a lot of back and forth, with neither team finding a great opportunity to score. Late in the opening stanza, however, Freshman midfielder Daniel Akinyose found himself in the right place, at the right time, collecting a loose ball and depositing it into the back of the net to score the first goal of his career and tie the game at 1-1.

 

Following a spirited halftime "conversation", the Chargers took the field in the second half looking like a different team. They came out aggressive and pressured the Pilots early, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second period. Freshmen Yeffreys Quintanilla, Matt Polk Jr., and Jonathan Monjaraz were each able to score the first goals of their careers, which allowed the Chargers to make substitutions, getting a lot of their roster valuable minutes with the lead. To cap off the scoring, Sophomore midfielder Santiago Morales caught the Pilot goalie out of position, then put nice touch on a 35-yard chip shot over the keeper's head to make it 5-1 MUAC.

 

"I am extremely pleased with the second half we played and for the guys to get the season started with a win," offered Head Coach Kirk Weiss. "Obviously as a coaching staff, we will focus on the first half from tonight, so we can put together a complete game. As a team, we are already going through the game film. We've got to get to work for a tough game Monday night against our main campus (Marian University, Indianapolis)."

 

The Chargers in fact do return to the pitch Monday night, when they head to Indianapolis to take on the Marian University Knights. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Friday evening, MUAC opens its home portion of the season when they take on Fairhaven Baptist College at 6:00 p.m. Please come out and support the Chargers!!