The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team saw its 2019 season come to an end on Wednesday evening in upstate New York, as the Chargers lost to Roberts Wesleyan, 2-1 in the NCCAA Division I Midwest Region Semifinals. The loss to the NCAA Division II Redhawks ends Lancaster Bible's year with a 14-5-3 overall record, while Roberts Wesleyan will move onto the region final against Grace (Ind.) with an overall record of 10-8-1.
 
How it Happened: Roberts Wesleyan got on the scoreboard early on Wednesday, as leading scorer Dylan Ruiz netted his 18^th goal of the season 5:49 into the contest. Ruiz took a pass from Marc-Anthony Blackburn and gave the Redhawks a lead less than six minutes into the contest, and the home team also recorded the next three shots as well.
 
Lancaster Bible put its first two shots towards the goal five seconds apart at 29:01 and 29:06, as Joel Hughes had his chance blocked, and Rama Mugisha's chance went wide. Nathan Muckle had Lancaster Bible's lone shot on goal in the first half with 26 seconds remaining, but it was saved by Redhawks goalkeeper Jared Gibbons.
 
The Chargers had three early corner kick opportunities and a shot towards the goal in the first 12 minutes of the second half, but it was Roberts Wesleyan who found the back of the net, as Juan Ospina-Bentancurt scored his third goal of the year off passes from Barrington Smith and Ruiz.
 
Lancaster Bible didn't fade however, and had three more corner kick tries and another shot midway through the half. The Chargers were finally rewarded at 76:15, as senior Caleb Nelson scored his sixth goal of the season off a feed from Mugisha. Nelson's goal gave the Chargers an added boost, and the visitors from the Keystone state threw everything they could at Roberts Wesleyan to get the equalizer.
 
Dan Bewersdorff had his shot blocked with just over eight minutes remaining, and Michael Eufemia's shot with two seconds remaining was saved by Gibbons, and the Chargers saw their 2019 campaign come to an end.
 
Statistically Speaking: Roberts Wesleyan led in shots, 11-9, and in shots on goal, 5-3…The Chargers held an 11-5 advantage in corner kicks…Jake Deterline made three saves for the Chargers, while Gibbons made two…Nelson's goal was his fifth in the past seven games…Ruiz's 18 goals are tied for the second-most in NCAA Division II this season.
 
The Coach Says: "Today we competed really well, but unfortunately conceded goals on two situations that we'd like to have back," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "The story of the game for us though was our resiliency, and how we stayed together to apply pressure on Roberts for much of the second half. Credit to Roberts for seeing the game out, but overall, we are proud of how we competed tonight."
 
Lancaster Bible Going Forward: "This needs to be a building block for our offseason training, and I believe that it will be," Ardt said. "It also needs to be said again that our seniors contributed so much to our program and will be missed in many ways. Now it's time to grow as a team as we build on their legacy."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 0-2 all-time against Roberts Wesleyan…The other meeting between the two teams also came in the NCCAA Div. I Midwest Region Semifinals in 2015, as the Redhawks defeated the Chargers, 3-0 on Nov. 18 of that year in Rochester, N.Y…The 14 wins are the most for the Chargers since the 2009 season when the team won a program-record 17 contests…The Chargers are now 0-7 all-time in NCCAA Div. I Postseason play...Lancaster Bible scored 46 goals this season, seven more than a year ago, and the most since the 2015 scored 46 as well…Nelson caps his collegiate career with 23 goals, the 18^th most in program history…Deterline will enter his senior season in 2020 with 171 saves, already the 11^th most in program history.