The St. Thomas men’s soccer team pulled out a win 1-0 against Bethel University with help from an early goal in the first half scored by senior forward Josh Grzesiak Saturday at South Field.
The Tommies (2-1) played an aggressive game, outshooting Bethel (2-3) 20-6 while fouling 14 times throughout the game.
“It’s always nice to get wins,” junior defenseman Jack Barry said. “Sometimes it doesn’t look pretty and today it wasn’t pretty.”
Barry contributed two shots to the Tommies shot total with Grzesiak shooting four with one of those finding the back of the Royals net.
Bethel attempted to tie the game up with a last minute corner kick but the Royals couldn’t put the ball past goalkeeper Niklas Martensson who was three for three in saves.
This was the last Division III home game for the Tommies and it is a bittersweet end for coach Jon Lowery’s career in the MIAC.
“I haven’t even processed it yet,” Lowery said. “There’s emotions for sure, but I’m just so committed to treating people in our program that have been with us for so long respectfully and then I’ll have one eye on the future and one eye on the past.”
Barry said he’s excited for a new era entering Division I but knows there are going to be challenges.
“It’s a new jungle,” Barry said. “We’ve soaked in that there isn’t a blueprint for how to do it, it’s a hard thing to comprehend.”
The Tommies are scheduled to face the Johnnies on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Collegeville for their last MIAC game.
“I think we’ll be motivated and there is no better way to end it,” Lowery said. “There is just something special about a Tommie-Johnnie game so we are super excited about it.”
Olivia Paradise can be reached at para4336@stthomas.edu.