The cold November air couldn’t keep the Beavers from cruising to victory at Paul Lorenz Field, as the Beavers emerged victorious 3-1 over the Bowling Green Falcons in a non-conference clash.
In the final regular season home game, the Beavers celebrated 10 seniors following the win, as players, joined by family and friends, were honored with framed jerseys and applauded by fans and teammates.
Seniors Gandhi Cruz, Nicklas Lund, Pere Belmonte, Alejandro Silva and Fabian Straudi all started the match, and helped lead the Beavers to victory.
The Beavers began the match on the front foot, as they so often have this season at Lorenz, with Sergi Solans, reigning West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week, creating two good early chances, both forcing vital saves from Falcons’ goalkeeper Brendan Graves.
The Beavers kept knocking on the door, but the Falcons would strike first, as Bennett Painter muscled in front of Nicklas Lund and poked a Trace Terry cross past Beavers ‘keeper Gandhi Cruz from close range, putting the Falcons up 1-0.
The Falcons led early, undoing the Beavers’ defense in the 14th minute for a 1-0 lead, a similar start to the last home match, a 1-1 draw with the University of San Francisco.
Solans would stay sharp after his strong start to the match, nearly scoring a fantastic goal after outpacing two defenders before clipping the ball narrowly over the Falcons’ goal.
The Beavers’ equalizer would come quickly after Solans’ miss. Arnau Farnos’ measured pass caught the Falcons defense out of position, providing Beavers midfielder Alejandra Silva with a clear look at goal.
Silva nestled a well-placed shot into the far corner, marking his first goal of the season and first as a Beaver for the senior transfer student.
Less than three minutes later, the Beavers would complete the first half comeback, as Enzo Newman’s header fell to the feet of Solans at the top of the penalty area. Solans would flick the ball over the Falcon defenders to put himself in on goal.
With the goal at his mercy, Solans would slide to poke the ball past Graves, slowly trickling over the goal line, putting the Beavers up 2-1.
For Solans, the tally is his 13th of the year, putting him alone in sixth place in program history in goals in a season as he continues an excellent 2024 campaign.
A well-matched first half, the Beavers went into the break leading, but with work to do to close out the win on senior night.
The insurance goal to solidify the victory came just after the hour mark, as Arnau Farnos headed the ball past ‘keeper Graves in the 65th minute. Farnos was set up by Solans, who clipped the ball to Farnos after being denied himself moments before.
The Beavers would comfortably see out the match, only conceding two shots in the second half on their way to a crucial 3-1 win.
Post-game, head coach Greg Dalby was focused on the team’s performance, saying, “It’s all about the group still. We got a good performance and a really important win for our team tonight.”
The Beavers have one regular season match left before the playoffs, as they travel to the University of Portland on Nov. 16 to close out the season.
Looking ahead to the final match of the year, Dalby and his group will embrace the break between games.
“You want to rest, and you want to train. We will lick our wounds a little bit and recover,” Dalby said. “We will train really hard and we will be ready to go next Saturday for a really exciting matchup.”
