It was the perfect way for the Bethel boys’ soccer team to shine in their home opener. The Bees jumped out to a solid halftime lead, and held on in the final 40 minutes to win their second consecutive game to open the season with a 5-1 victory over county rival Milton Union last week, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Bulldogs. In the game, senior Tyler Brueckman recorded in what hockey fans would say was a hat-trick, as he scored three goals leading Bethel to the win.
In the nightcap, the Bethel girls’ lost in the final ten minutes as Milton Union scored to knock off the Bees 2-1.
Bethel’s boys’ squad set the tone early in their contest, as they controlled the tempo and began to build their lead.
Brueckman began his big day in the first half by scoring the first two goals for the Bees to give the host team a 2-0 lead. His first goal was assisted by Daniel Ross, while his second score came off the foot of Adam Flomerfelt, who picked up the assist.
Two more goals were scored in the opening half for the Bees, as Ross scored off a Brueckman assist, and Nick Schmidt made it 4-0 when he scored off a pass from Luke Moorefield.
“I thought we played a pretty good first half,” Bethel coach Bob Hamlin said. “We worked the ball effectively from the sides to the middle. We also got a good deal of dangerous looks.
But in the second half, things turned around for the Bulldogs as they played even with the Bees, and in the words of Hamlin, they likely outplayed the host squad.
“The second half was not quite the same, as Milton came out and played with more intensity than us and we got satisfied with trying to just play the ball through and not working the ball the way we did the first half,: Hamlin said. “Our goalkeeper Alex van Haaren made some good saves or it could have been a very interesting game going down the stretch.”
Bethel made it 5-0 when Brueckman capped his night with his third goal of the game as Korry Hamlin picked up the assist before Milton capped the scoring by spoiling what would have been a second consecutive shutout to open the season.
“We are a young team,” Hamlin stated. “We will learn from this and be better as the season progresses.”
*In the nightcap of the doubleheader, the Bees girls’ soccer team lost 2-1 to Milton Union, after battling to a scoreless tie at the half.
“We were playing good defense and started to get our offense going,” said Bethel coach Dru Bescoe. “The first half went well.”
Milton scored in the first ten minutes of the second half, but the Bees battled back to tie the game;
With 15 minutes left in the game, Maggie Kohler dished the ball to Lauren Newton who scored to tie the game.
“We had the momentum after we came back to tie the game, and we were doing all the right things,” Bescoe said.
Milton then broke the tie with a goal with around ten minutes left in the game, and despite Bethel keeping the pressure up, they fell short.
*Also on Saturday, Bethel survived a rough non-league game against Brookville, escaping with a 3-2 non-league victory. Daniel Ross scored twice and Brueckman added a goal and assist for the Bees. Also dishing out an assist was Jordan Donthnier.
The game was tied at two with 6:20 left in the contest when Donthnier got the ball on the right wing, regained possession and dished to Brueckman for the game winner.
