The UCA men’s soccer team defeated the Evangel University team 3-0 in its season opener at the Bill Stephens Track and Soccer Complex on Aug. 22. 

“It’s a good start for us,” Head Coach Frank Kohlenstein said. “It’s always nice to start the season with a win. A lot of our guys got to play, so that’s always exciting. We had a lot of players that this was their first NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] Division One match.”

The Bears (1-1) started the game strong with a goal within the first three minutes of the game.  Senior forward/midfielder Devonte Richards positioned the ball in front of the goal, giving senior midfielder Sohma Ichikawa the ability to score a goal. 

While Ichikawa made 10 shots during the first half of the game, this would be the Bear’s only score before half-time.

Graduate student Kevin Ventura, defender and midfielder, said the game ended in “a good result.”

“We have a lot to improve on,” Ventura said. “We’re building off of stuff that we’ve been learning and training. Ultimately, we want to build off of this win and perform even better next time.”

Evangel (1-1), was able to play offense with eight saves during the game. However, the team did not offer much defense; it had zero shots compared to the Bears’ 22 shots during the game.

In the second half of the game, graduate student and midfielder Matheo Francou scored his first goal; the game against Evangel marked Francou’s debut with the Bears.

Ventura said Francou and freshman midfielder Charles Brunet “connected really well” on the field.

“They offered us a good attacking threat,” he said. 

The third and final goal of the night was made when Richards made a successful pass to freshman forward Keiji Nakazawa.

Both Nakazawa and Francou scored their first goals for the UCA Bears during this match.

Kohlenstein said, “That’s exciting, and hopefully we’ll get better from playing this match — that’s why we’re playing it.”

He said the best part of the game was some of the substitute players “moving the ball well and doing a good job.”

“That was key,” he said. “They listened and did what we were asking the first team players to do. They probably did it better than the first team. So that’s always exciting when the players listen to you.”

Kohlenstein said his goal for the season is “to get better every time we play — that’s the biggest thing. We’re hoping that every match we play, we make steps forward and try to get better.”

Ventura said his goal for the team this season is to “win more matches — that’s the number one thing.”

He said, “We’re hoping to be a top 25 team, go to the tournament and win the conference this year.”

The Bears went up against Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Demon Deacons demolished the Bears 3-2 on Aug. 25.

The Bears will travel to Memphis, Tennessee, to go head-to-head with the University of Memphis Tigers on Sept. 1. In their last match-up on Sept. 4, 2023, the Tigers beat the Bears 2-1.

The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats of the game will be available on ucasports.com.