BPC Soccer Drops Two

Courtesy of BPC

The Brewton-Parker College men’s soccer team played two games last week as they took on Truett Mc-Connell University and the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers. BPC fell in both games, but kept them close.

Vs. Truett McConnell

The Barons Men's Soccer team traveled to Truett McConnell University yesterday, hoping to turn their season around. Sadly, the Barons came up short against the Bears and fell to (0-2-1) record. Fortunately, the Barons saw scoring from three players, all getting their first goals of the season, and we look to see that continue.

Coach Bob Neuman shared his thoughts after the game with us. 'The guys are still trying to get to grips with our expectations and system. We didn't play enough as a team tonight; we were too open at the back, and that will always cause issues. As soon as the boys understand the system better through the season, things will click into place.'

The Barons managed to outshoot the Bears nine to eight in the first half but found themselves down two to nothing by halftime. The Barons also showed discipline in the first half, having only one foul called on them compared to the Bears 11. Unfortunately, those opportunities were unable to create enough chances for the Barons to score.

The second half saw scoring from three separate Barons as they attempted to claw their way back into the game. Chris Brown scored at 48:05 to cut the lead to two to one, but sadly, the Bears answered right back six minutes later. Lazar Milosavljevic scored three minutes after the Bears, cutting the lead back down to three to two. The Bears then went and scored two unanswered goals before Rayane Sid Ahmed got one in the 74th minute. The Bears scored one more at the end of the match with just under six minutes to go for a final of six to three.

Truett McConnell had 20 shots, 11 on net, versus the Barons' 18 shots and nine on net. The Barons ended the night with five corner kicks to the Bears four. The Bears ended with six saves for their keeper versus our five. Brewton-Parker had three yellow cards versus the Bears' two.

Vs. Spartanburg

Brewton-Parker College Men's Soccer team played against the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers on Friday and lost one to nothing in regular time. This is the Barons' third loss on the year, bringing them to a record of 0-3-1 to start the season. The Barons went down one in the 19th minute of the game and managed to hold the Pioneers to nothing for the rest of the match. While holding the Pioneers to zero for the rest of the game, they failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

We talked with Coach Bob Neuman and asked about his team's performance: 'At the highest level, concentration is massive; we didn't concentrate well enough during the key moments to ensure we executed things properly. Sometimes, one defensive lapse is enough, and this afternoon, it was. We also weren’t incisive enough in attack, and if we're going to challenge the teams ahead, we will need to do more.' Coach Neuman was adamant about how the team needs to improve and learn from their mistakes to start the season if they will turn it around.

Pioneers Sebastian Puyo scored the first-half goal at 19:17 to take the one-nothing lead and the game-winner. The rest of the first half was relatively quiet, seeing only one shot from the Barons to SMC's three. The goalies made one save apiece. SMC had two corners in the first half, while the Barons only had one. Each team had a player receive a yellow card in the first half: Half to Barons Dejahne Morris and Ronnie Mendez for SMC.

The Second half saw the officials giving out a plethora of cards: four yellow cards to SMC, one red card to SMC, and a Red card to Kalifa Dabo in the 63rd minute. Kalifa was judged to have denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity, resulting in an automatic red card. The red card forced the Barons to play a man down until nearly the end of the game when, in the 88th minute, SMC received a red card of their own. Despite being down a man for over 20 minutes of play, the Barons managed to hold and prevent SMC from scoring.

SMC led the game in total shots 10-5 and shots on net 5-4. Saves were even 4-4. Both teams were given three corner kicks. SMC led the game in fouls 14-11 and finished the game with one red and five yellow cards, versus the Barons' one red card and one yellow card.

The Barons look to get back on track with their next road trip to face Bethel University on September 5 at 8:00 p.m. They will remain on the road to face Freed-Hardeman University on September 7.