They survived Newton and Franklin Monroe, so the Bethel Bees now had to battle another team near the top of the standings in the Cross County Conference, as Bethel looked to remain atop the league standings as they put their unbeaten record on the line against Miami East, who only had one loss.
Once again, the Bees raised their game and earned a hard fought 4-2 victory over the Vikings to run their league record to 5-0, and 9-4-1 overall.
“It is what you would expect out of a Miami East/Bethel soccer game, end to end action,” Bethel coach Bob Hamlin said. “There was a lot of Intensity from both squads. It was a hard fought battle.”
Dalton Taynor scored first for the Vikings to take the 1-0 lead before the Bees came back to send the game into the half tied.
Daniel Ross scored the first of his three goals off an assist from Tyler Brueckman to even the game at 1-1 heading into the half.
“Miami East playing shorthanded due to injuries battled all night and kept us at bay the first half,” Hamlin said. “We moved the ball well early and had some dangerous looks but just could not find the net.”
“In the second half the game’s tempo really picked up and it was end to end,” he added. “We needed to do a better job of patience and make the extra pass.”
The second half saw Ross strike again to make it 2-1 with the assist from Korry Hamlin on a header into the net, then Brueckman scored the third goal off the pass from Joe Miller breaking away from the defense, giving the Bees a 3-1 lead.
Back came the Vikings, as Dalton Taynor connected with Kyler Bradley who scored from outside the box into the left corner to keep Miami East in the game at 3-2.
Ross then finished his hat-trick to secure the win for the Bees, and keep them atop the division standings.
“It was a great win for the boys tonight,” Hamlin said. “It is Homecoming Week. There has been a lot of activities and fun going on all week. We tried to keep the boys focused all week and they got the job done tonight.”
With the win, the Bees secured at least a tie for the Cross County Conference title, and can win it outright when they travel to Twin Valley South tomorrow night.
