Leavenworth, Kan.— The University of Saint Mary surrendered a heartbreaking goal to Silmon with 1:33 remaining and fell 3-2 to the Bethel College Threshers in the final regular season men's soccer match Saturday, October 31, in at Berkel Memorial. The Spires held the lead twice until the final minute and a half.

Rylan Nowak opened the scoring at 5:09 off an assist from Damon Walter. USM's defense protected that advantage with defensive saves by Alfie Scandle on Martinez's shot at 11:42 and Aaron Jackson on Silmon's attempt at 19:27. Navarro brought the Threshers level with an unassisted goal at 31:22, and the teams entered halftime tied 1-1.

The Spires withstood another stretch of pressure early in the second half. Gabriel Carrillo made a defensive save on Acevedo's shot at 61:46, and Roberto Garcia Gomez stopped Navarro's attempt at 62:44. At the other end, Bethel goalkeeper Medina saved a Nowak shot at 64:29 before Ricardo Navarro denied another Nowak attempt with a defensive save at 65:20.

Jude Rodwell restored the Spire's lead at 70:44, scoring on Mario Santoro's assist for a 2-1 advantage. Garcia Gomez made a second defensive save on Guijon's header at 78:23, but Bethel equalized 20 seconds later. Ricardo Navarro scored at 78:43 off an assist from Duran, four seconds after Duran delivered a corner kick.

USM continued to generate chances with the score tied. Medina stopped Lucas Meneses' attempt at 81:46 and Rodwell's shot at 82:33 before Silmon scored the unassisted winner at 88:27. Nowak finished with a team-high seven shots, including five on goal. Rodwell and Santoro each attempted four shots with two on target, while Meneses and Matias Allou each recorded three shots with two on goal.

The Spires outshot Bethel 25-14, including 16-8 in the second half, and held edges of 13-12 in shots on goal and 8-7 in corner kicks. Xavier Ezell made four goalkeeper saves for Saint Mary, whose defenders added five defensive saves. Medina finished with nine saves, and Bethel added two defensive saves. The Spires finished the match and the regular season at 8-4-1 in KCAC play.
 
Coming Up…

With this being the final regular season match, the Spires have secured their slot as the #5 seed going into the KCAC tournament. With KCAC matches still being played tomorrow Sunday, November 1^st, a full schedule has yet to be released but your Spires are tentatively scheduled to travel to York, Nebraska on Tuesday, November 3^rd for the KCAC Quarterfinal match up to officially kick off the 2026 post-season.