The UCA Bears defeated the Dolphins 2-0 on their opponent’s home field in Jacksonville, Fl., on Saturday night, Oct. 16, bringing in a victory.

The soccer game kept a good pace for the entirety of the 90 minutes, with one goal in the first half and the second goal in the last half. 

The first goal was made by senior midfielder Pablo Azcona in the 45th minute of the first half, with assistance from freshman midfielder Sohma Ichikawa and freshman defender Daniel Shabani. 

The final goal was made in the 73rd minute of the second half by Shabani, securing the win for the Bears in Jacksonville. 

Both of the goals made in the game were the first of each player to be recorded for UCA.  

“For Pablo and [Daniel Shabani] to get the goals, that was huge, because those were both players who came off the bench for us,” Coach Frank Kolhenstein said. 

Senior midfielder Mathias Bendikson said that he felt “pure joy and excitement for those two players” after their shots were made.   

“The team performed very well and we had some players step up and make some great plays in order for us to keep a clean sheet and win the game,” Bendikson said. 

The victory was important to the entire team and came after losing three games in a row prior to the win on Saturday, which did not hold the team back from celebrating their success. 

“We fought hard since the start and made it clear to everyone that we were going to come out winning. Everyone understood the game plan and executed it,” sophomore midfielder Jerry Gutierrez said.  

The Bears were in good spirits after the win, along with Kolhenstein, who spoke with high hopes for the upcoming games in the conference.  

“The guys really worked hard and trained this week and had a great attitude, despite some troubles with traveling,” Kolhenstein said after the win. “They were ready from the start to play a very good Jacksonville team.”

The Bears ended the game with nine fouls total, two less than their opponents, who received 11. 

“The 17 guys that played were all good defensively,” Kohlenstein said. “That’s what makes us the purple Bear team that we are. Everybody goes in focused and competes at a very high level.”

Kohlenstein discussed the importance of teamwork and follow through for his team as they move to the next opponent in the conference.

“The group of guys we have is amazing, the culture we have within the team is an experience that you can’t get elsewhere,” freshman defender Alex Kiss said.

“It is nice to be back to winning ways and certainly nice to be on top of the conference with only two more games to go, but we have a very important week ahead where we need to make sure we put together a good performance so we can win against Liberty,” Bendikson said.