Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University took to the pitch at Heedum Field for a non-conference battle with No. 8-ranked Bellevue University on Wednesday evening. After a scoreless first half, the Bruins scored a pair of goals and withstood a late rally from the Warriors for the 2-1 win.
Bellevue kept possession, passing it around the back trying to manufacture goal-scoring opportunities, in the early going. The Warriors’ defense stood tall while trying to create chances themselves through the counterattack, getting four shots away while forcing the keeper to make one save.
The Bruins came the closest to scoring in the first half when Colton Costello brought down an attacker in the box to give the visitors a penalty kick. Edwin Cisneros stepped up to take the shot but Hugo Sjoeberg, the reigning conference defender of the week, dove to the left and blocked the shot. The rebound fell back to the Bruins’ Giovani Soares who shot the ball wide of the target.
Going into the locker room at halftime, the Bruins had an 11-4 shot advantage but the Warriors’ defense, especially the play of Sjoeberg, kept the game scoreless through the first 45 minutes.
Bellevue found their breakthrough in the second half as Kyi Nicholson ran onto the end of an over-the-top through ball before looping the ball into the box. His pass found Cisneros who tapped it into the back of the net to put the Bruins up 1-0 in the 58th minute.
The game turned into more of a back-and-forth affair as Midland was forced to push forward in an attempt to find an equalizer. The Warriors outshot the Bruins 4-1 in the 24 minutes following the goal but were unable to find a score of their own.
Bellevue was able to take advantage of the Warriors’ forward push as Alvaro Moros Sanz sent in a through ball past the defense. Cisneros found the other end and went one one-on-one with the keeper. Cisneros placed the ball past Sjoeberg and into the back of the net for his second goal to give Bellevue an insurance goal in the 82nd minute.
Midland kept battling and was able to get one back in the 88th minute. Matheus Nascimentopicked off a Bruins’ pass before taking a long shot. He flared the ball into the top right corner for the goal. The rally ran out of time and the game ended 2-1 in favor of Bellevue.
Hugo Sjoeberg earned four saves, including the penalty save, in 90 minutes of work. The Warriors outshot the Bruins in the second half, 10 to 4, but were outshot for the game by one, 15 to 14. Bellevue had a 9 to 4 advantage in corner kicks while Midland was whistled for 16 fouls to the BU’s 12.
Midland (3-5-4, 1-1-2 GPAC) will be back on the pitch this weekend as they travel to take on Waldorf (0-7-1, 0-3-0 GPAC) in a Great Plains Athletic Conference match. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 5 at Bolstorff Field.
