Graceland Loses to Missouri Valley in Heart Match

Marshall, MO - The Graceland men's soccer team squared off with Missouri Valley College tonight in a Heart conference game.

Graceland entered the contest with a 6-5 overall record and a 1-3 Heart conference mark.

The #9 ranked Missouri Valley entered the contest with a 7-2 overall record and a 3-1 record in the Heart.

The game got off to a slow start as the two teams played a game of "cat and mouse" in the opening minutes, with both teams playing conservatively.

Missouri Valley had a couple of scoring opportunities but Graceland goalkeeper Mitchell Hart was able to make three saves in the first half to keep MVC off the board as they entered the intermission tied 0-0.

MVC held the edge in shots 7-2.

Things opened up a bit in the second half, Graceland had a good scoring chance in the 48th minute when David Chaker ripped a shot, but it went wide.

The tie was broken in the 55th minute when Raul Beneit kicked in a goal with an assist from Juan Carlos Heras. Beneit was able to kick the ball into the back of the net in perfect stride, putting the Vikings up 1-0.

The Yellowjackets went into full attack mode for the remainder of the game, and had several opportunities deep in the Missouri Valley defensive third of the field. Despite their best efforts, the Yellowjackets could not finish on any of their opportunities to send the game into overtime.

"We executed our plan well tonight," said head Coach Bryan Courtney. "Missouri Valley is talented and well coached. We knew it would be a challenge for us. We made few too many give-aways in the middle of the pitch which put a lot of pressure on our back four.

I was very happy with the individual and collective performance of our defenders. Mitchell made several big saves throughout the game to keep us in it.

We had two chances from point-blank in the final minute of the game but their goalkeeper came up big in that moment to prevent our equalizer."

Graceland junior goalie Hart took the loss in the net for the Yellowjackets, dropping his record to 2-2 on the season.

GU will host Central Methodist University on Saturday, October 10th. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.

Stay tuned to GUjackets.com for continuing coverage of Graceland men's soccer and all Yellowjacket athletics.