SCU Athletics
Matt Stephens, Sports Information Director
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Southwestern Christian University topped Bethel (Ind.) 5-3 and won its third consecutive NCCAA Division I Men’s Soccer National Championship Saturday at Austin-Tindall Soccer Complex.
The top-seeded Eagles (19-4-1) outscored their opponents 11-3 combined en route to their third NCCAA championship in as many years. SCU has won on NCCAA championships in 2016, 2017 and now 2018.
SCU started fast when senior Jamie Campbell took a pass from fellow senior Matheus Goveia and scored in the fourth minute of the match.
The Pilots responded in the 18th minute when Jose Barquin beat the SCU defense and scored to knot the match at 1-1.
The Eagles regained the lead after halftime when Goveia successfully converted a penalty kick in the 56th minute.
Campbell netted his second goal of the night in the 64th minute and gave SCU a 3-1 advantage.
10 minutes later, senior Igor Stojanovic put SCU in front 4-1 when he was set up by Mortiz Kulick and Damnjan Kojic for his third goal of the tournament.
Bethel got a goal from Gabriel Ferreira in the 80th minute that cut the SCU lead to 4-2.
Alexander Koziolek shut down the Bethel comeback attempt with an unassisted goal in the 89th minute that stretched the Eagles’ lead out to 5-2.
Bethel’s Samuel Biek snuck in a goal with 13 seconds left on the clock, but SCU came away victorious 5-3 on the night.
Goveia was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by Koziolek and fellow senior Javier Verdu Sanchez.