By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's soccer squad closed out their 2025 regular season campaign in a home matchup against the Mount St. Joseph Lions. On a windy fall afternoon, the Beavers were able to strike early and often on the way to a 3-0 lead at half. Despite a late surge from the Lions, Bluffton was able to hold them off for a 3-2 victory on its home grass. With the win, the Beavers finished the regular season at 7-9-1 overall and a 5-4 conference mark heading into the HCAC Tournament. Mount St. Joseph capped off its regular season 6-9-3 with a 4-3-2 mark in conference play.
It wouldn't take long for Bluffton to get going as junior Collin Scheid (Lima/Shawnee) finished off a beautiful free kick from William Clark (Mount Blanchard/Riverdale) that included a touch from Alex Brown (Delaware/Buckeye Valley), as the Beavers took a 1-0 lead just 10 minutes into the contest. Four minutes later, Clark fired a free kick from just outside the eighteen into the upper left corner of the goal, giving Bluffton a 2-0 advantage while stunning the folks from Cincinnati.
The hosts wouldn't be finished as Leonardo Campos (Santiago, Chile/Campbellsville University) got free down the sideline, pushing Bluffton to a 3-0 lead at the break. Coming out of halftime, Mount St. Joseph needed just two minutes to find the back of the net, cutting the lead to 3-1. The Lions were not finished, scoring just seven minutes later to pull within one.
Despite the back-to-back Lion goals, Bluffton regained its composure, holding MSJ scoreless over the final 35 minutes as the Beavers sealed their 3-2 victory.
While the Lions piled up a 23-16 advantage in total shots, they held just a slight 9-8 edge in shots on goal. With a total of five shots in the contest that included two on goal, Leonardo Campos tallied one goal in the outing with Collin Scheid also scoring once. William Clark put forth both a goal and an assist, while Alex Brown and Roman Whorton (Brookville) each notched assists Wednesday afternoon. In the net for Bluffton was junior Zach Johnson (Middletown) who snagged seven saves.
Next up for the Beavers is post-season play where they will host an HCAC tournament game this Saturday, Nov. 1, on Alumni Field at 7 p.m. The opponent will look familiar as Mount St. Joseph returns to the Sears Complex with even more on the line, a berth in the conference semi-finals. Come out and support your Beavers!
-BEAVERS-
