Bethel men’s soccer starts Mid-South Conference membership with regular season championship
MCKENZIE, Tenn. (BVM) — It didn’t take long for the Bethel Wildcats men’s soccer team to establish itself in the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference. In its first year of membership, the Wildcats dominated the conference, winning all nine of its MSC games en route to an undefeated 10-0 regular-season finish. With the cancellation of its game against MSC opponent Cumberland (Tenn.), the Wildcats clinched their first regular season MSC title.
“It feels really good because we’ve been close to winning the Southern States Conference title, but for some reason we lack one or two things,” head coach Malang Jarju said. “When we moved to the Mid-South we knew it was one of the strongest so we knew we’d need to top our game and raise our level. We knew we had the players, had the bodies, had the numbers and we kept working hard and continued to the spring so it wasn’t a surprise, but I knew we had to put in the work.”
Bethel, currently ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Coaches Top 25 poll, has been efficient on both sides of the ball to get to their top-seeded finish in the MSC. The Wildcats finished first in the MSC in both goals per game and assists per game while finishing No. 2 in goals allowed per game.
In conference play, the Wildcats outscored conference opponents 30-8 in the nine games played this season and averaged 3.33 goals per game, which ranked first amongst MSC opponents. Jarju contributes that success to his team’s experience playing as a unit as most of his players have been in the program for three or more years.
“Playing together for so long really helped the team,” Jarju said. “Keeping these boys together and playing together as a team has helped us so much playing in the Mid-South.”
The Wildcats were led on the offensive end by senior forward Alphonso Gooden. The senior led the Wildcats with eight goals while also leading the team with 17 points, good for seventh and ninth in the MSC, respectively. His 1.70 points per game and .80 goals per game placed Gooden fifth in the conference in both categories.
“Alphonso came from a junior college. … so he came with two years of junior college experience and he brought that to our team and it really changed the dynamic of the team,” Jarju said. “We’ve been missing that striker that can score goals, give assists and hold the ball on top and when Alphonso came to the team, he really improved our team because he’s a player who is technically good. [He’s] good with the ball, good in the air and a really good finisher. When he started this year we knew he was going to get those goals.”
Alongside Gooden on the offensive attack was junior forward Pascal Mohungsi who led the MSC in both total assists and assists per game with seven and .70, respectively. Mohungsi also totaled 15 points on the year and scored four goals.
Another key contributor to the offense was sophomore defender Alioune Diop who finished third on the team with 10 points and scored the second-most goals on the team with five. Diop was also honored as the NAIA Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for the week of March 29 after scoring all five of his season goals over a two-game span with one in a 2-1 win over Shawnee State on March 23 and four against Georgetown in a 9-1 victory on March 27.
“Alioune was a midfielder who we turned to be a center back,” Jarju said. “We aren’t surprised he can score goals because he’s a midfield player that we knew we needed to play in the back so we changed his role to be a defender. He feels really good about [the award]. … We’re proud of him. I’m proud of him and he’s so happy about it. His confidence is up there right now because he knew he could do more. He knew he could do it. He’s hungry for success.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Bethel allowed only eight goals scored all year with 26 saves. Bethel’s saves total placed them last in the conference in the category, showing their penchant for stopping opposing offenses.
The Wildcats were also efficient with their play as even though the team finished No. 6 in the conference in shots per game with 14.8, they finished No. 2 with shots on goal per game with 7.9. Quality shots is something Jarju has preached to his squad.
“I always tell people ‘If you’re not going to give me a good shot, don’t just waste the ball’” Jarju said. “We build the ball, cook it, cook it, cook it, until it’s ready and we can take a good shot. That’s why our shots on goal most are going to be a goal or something we can work it. I don’t believe in shooting for the sake of shooting.”
The team understands the significance of the historic regular season finish, but know that there is still plenty of work to be done if they want to achieve their goals for the year.
“We know how important it is,” Jarju said. “We want to win the conference. We’re going to go all out to win the conference. We’ll put in the work, we’ll attack and then we’ll score goals and try to win every game in our way.”
To be able not only to win a conference regular season title, but a tournament title as well in the same season would pay big dividends to the team, something that isn’t lost on Jarju.
“It’s going to mean the world to me, the players and this university because it helps in many ways,” the coach said. “It helps in recruiting, helps us in confidence and fundraising everything. … Winning titles, winning championships is the only way to motivate these players to stay longer and play for you and to help the university get more money for us to use.”
With the regular season title in hand, the Wildcats now own the No. 1 seed in the Mid-South Conference Tournament and a first round bye. Bethel will learn over the coming days who their opponent will be when they take the pitch on April 9 in the tournament quarterfinals.
