Mankato, MN -- North Central University (NCU) men's soccer continued their stretch of road games with a matchup against the Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) Vikings in Mankato. In the first meeting between these teams back in September, the Vikings walked away from Minneapolis with a 7-2 victory. This afternoon, tensions ran high as BLC dominated on their home turf with an 8-0 win to solidify the regular season series with the Rams. 

Goalkeeper Peyton Carselowey got the start in net for North Central. An early questionable red card was administered to the Rams after a bang-bang slide tackle attempt, forcing NCU to play down a man for the remainder of the match. The freshman was tested early as he was able to punch a shot up and out with an acrobatic save, his first of the match. The Vikings continued on the attack until they finally found the back of the net in the 18th minute on their 6th attempt of the game. Tensions rose in the first half as North Central showed signs of frustration. The first half saw two red cards and 6 yellow cards. Bethany Lutheran did a great job of forcing the issue as they earned 9 corner kicks in the first. NCU could only muster one shot on goal by sophomore Alvin Wlejleh. Just when NCU thought they could bleed out the rest of the half to regroup at the break, Bethany scored back-to-back goals late to take a 3-0 lead. 

It did not take long for the Vikings to pick up where they left off as they scored their fourth goal of the game in the 50th minute. The teams traded shots on goal before BLC struck again in the 55th minute to make it 5-0. Unfortunately, things got worse before they got better for the Rams as the home team tacked on three more goals before things were said and done. The fiercely fought contest finished with 13 fouls, 10 yellow cards, and 2 red cards. Keeper Peyton Carselowey totaled 10 saves in what would end up being a 8-0 loss to BLC. 

Today's box score can be found here.


Looking Ahead:

Up next, NCU Men's Soccer heads to Ashland, Wisconsin to play Northland College on Wednesday, October 16th in hopes of sweeping the season series with the Lumberjacks. That game kicks off at 4:30pm from Ponzio Stadium.

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on men's soccer and all things NCU Athletics.