LAKE GENEVA, Wis. - The Buccaneers (0-12-1,0-3-1 MWC) fell 4-0 to Wisconsin-Whitewater (7-2-3, 1-0-0 WIAC) at Badger High School this afternoon. A crowd of 92 watched the Warhawks control most of the match.
Goalkeeper David Staats (Meridian, ID) was Beloit's busiest and most important player. He played all 90 minutes and made nine saves, seven of them in the first half, when Whitewater put 11 shots on the Buccaneers' goal. He stopped repeated attempts from Aidan Glancey, Blake Lovick, Braylon Hemmersbach and Tanner Mandalinci before the break, and he turned away late efforts from Caleb Bergman and William Faircloth in the closing minutes. Of the 13 Warhawk shots on target, only four got past him.
Whitewater struck early. Hayden Saul scored in the 6th minute (5:32) by putting away a rebound after Staats saved a shot from Glancey. Beloit had a chance to answer in the 8th minute, when Matteo Jijon's (Wilmette, IL) shot sailed wide right.
Hemmersbach doubled the lead in the 29th minute with a header off a cross, and Whitewater led 2-0 at the break. James Kiraly made it 3-0 in the 54th minute after Tyler Chrisman won the ball in midfield. Bergman finished the scoring in the 74th minute, converting a play that began with a cross from Nil Calvo Alsina.
The Buccaneers did not score, but five players got shots off. Tyner Amerine forced a save from Whitewater goalie Austin Waite just before halftime. He played 75 minutes, the most of any Beloit player, and also took the Buccaneers' only first-half shot on target. Jijon took the Buccaneers' first shot of the match in the 8th minute, though it missed wide right. Max Wilson (Spokane, WA) fired wide right early in the second half. Michael Berry put a shot on target in the 66th minute, and Waite made the save. Miles Morrow tested reserve goalkeeper Kevin Krass in the 87th minute, but Krass saved it.
Beloit finished with five shots, three on target, against Whitewater's 18 shots and 13 on target. The Buccaneers won one corner kick, in the 39th minute, to Whitewater's six. They were not caught offside, while the Warhawks were flagged three times.
Beloit was whistled for nine fouls in the first half but only one in the second. Whitewater was called for ten fouls after the break, but the Buccaneers couldn't turn that into sustained pressure. Beloit's Marco Jijon (Wilmette, IL) (70 minutes), Juan Calzada (Madison, Wis.) (71) and Nicholas Williams (Fenton, MO) (65) also logged heavy minutes. In total, 20 Buccaneers saw the field, as the rotation kept fresh legs in throughout.
Whitewater held 57 percent of possession and used all of its bench. Hemmersbach, Bergman and Kiraly each scored, and Calvo Alsina collected two assists.
The Buccaneers are back in Beloit on Saturday when Monmouth College comes to town. Kick off against the Fighting Scots is set for 11 am from the Strong Complex Soccer Field.
