Cats Open Final Site Play Monday at 10 a.m.
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Being the No. 1 seed, the Bethel Wildcats will open play at 10 a.m. in the NAIA National Men's Soccer (Round of 16) Championships in Orange Beach Monday.
The Cats won the Mid-South Conference title to qualify for the championships. The Cats are 13-1-2.
The Wildcats beat Union 2-1 in second round action to advance to the Final Site.
Bethel will face Grand View (Iowa) who earned an at- large bid. The Vikings compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Grand View is 14-4-3 and coming off a 1-nil win over Indiana Wesleyan in the second round of the championships.
It is the 12th appearance in the nationals for Bethel. The Cats are 11-8-1 all-time in the tournament. Bethel won the national championship in 2008.
Bethel has won five straight matches. The Cats outscored their opponents 13-3 during the win streak.
The Vikings beat Indiana Wesleyan 1-nil to advance to the Final Site. Grand View had lost to MidAmerica Nazarene University 2-nil in the semi-finals of the Heart of America Conference tournament.
Three Wildcats, Gregory Cousins, Souleymane Balde, and Horace Avila Jr. were named to MSC 1st team all-conference squad. Four Wildcats were named to the second team.
Balde led the Cats in goals with 14. Cousins followed with 10. Avila had eight goals and a team leading nine assists.
The Wildcats score 45 goals on the season as compared to their opponents who recorded 12 against the Cat defense.
Bethel outshot their opponents 135-61 during the year. The Wildcats had an 86-27 advantage in corner kicks.
Diego Camargo recorded six shutouts in net for the Cats.
The Vikings outscored their opponents 50-22 on the season.
Justin Figaroa led Grand View with 12 goals. Payton Chatman had a team high eight assists. Luis Helm recorded six shutouts.
The championship runs December 1 through December 8.
Watch:
https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/7658
Stats:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/msoc/2025-26/boxscores/20251201_emyj.xml