Troy Christian built a three goal lead in the second half, and held off a talented Bethel team for a 3-1 victory last week in boys’ soccer action in Tipp City.

The Eagles remain undefeated after the win with a 4-0-1 record, while the Bees lost their first game of the season compared to three wins.

“When you go into a game against Bethel, you know it will be a tough battle,” Troy Christian coach Ryan Zeman said. “We have gone in there before and was beaten up, so we were prepared for a physical

Bethel coach Bob Hamlin agreed that with both teams coming in unbeaten, it was sure to be a battle.

“It is what you would expect out of two teams who had not lost yet,” Hamlin said. “We made too many uncharacteristic mistakes tonight.”

In the first seven minutes of the game, Andrew Strait scored on an assist from Jacob Wynne. The ball was played across the field, and Strait finished off the play with a score, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

Troy Christian scored again about 15 minutes later when Jon Slone scored an unassisted goal to add to his record-setting numbers for the Eagles.

“We knew he could attack their wide defenders and he did that,” Zeman said. “He created his own shot out there.”

Leading 2-0 at the half, Troy Christian added to their lead in the second half. Strait scored again when he finished a corner kick when he tapped in a loose ball around the net. Grant Conklin earned the assist and it was 3-0.

“We gave up two goals to get behind at the half, but gave up an early third goal early in the second half, that took the air out of us,” Hamlin said.

Bethel did score late in the game when Aiden Flomerfelt scored on an assist from Joe Miller, closing out the scoring in the game.

“We missed a penalty kick after that goal that could have made it an interesting game down the stretch,” Hamlin said. “It was good that the boys did not quit and kept fighting to the end.”

“It was a good win for our program to play with a team like that,” Zeman said. “We are ranked #2 in the area Division Three poll now, and it is the first time we have ever been that high. It was good for our team to get a big win to believe in ourselves.”

“We have high hopes this season and this group is one of the best if not the best team I have coached here,” he added. “We have a lot of club players. We played well all summer and we feel we are ready to play.”