The sixth-seeded Bethel Bees cruised past league foe National Trail last week 12-0 to open the Division Four sectional tournament held at Bethel High School.
The Bees had plenty of scoring from everywhere in this game. Tyler Brueckman led the way for the Bees with three goals and two assists, while Nick Schmidt and Daniel Ross each added two goals. Schmidt also had a helper.
Scoring one goal apiece was Korry Hamlin, Drew Kubiak, Aiden Flomerfelt, Keaton Smith and David Landes. Adding assists were Hamlin (3) along with one each from Kubiak, Micah Mutlu, Joe Miller and Kyle Smith.
The win gave Bethel a 12-4-1 record overall.
“This really is not the type of game you really need to prepare yourself for the next round of the tournament but we were able to play a lot of players tonight and came away injury free,” said Bethel coach Bob Hamlin.
*Bethel’s next stop was last Thursday night as the Bees squared off against Cross County Conference for Miami East in the second round of the sectionals. The Bees took a slim one goal lead at the half, but continued to play solid defense in a 3-0 win over the Vikings. With the win, the Bees advanced to the sectional finals which was played after deadline,
With only 1:30 gone in the game, Joe Miller crossed a ball from the right wing to the left side, and Daniel Ross then finished the play with the first goal of the game, giving the Bees a quick 1-0 lead.
“Daniel was very composed in trapping the ball and then finishing it,” Hamlin said. “Scoring early helped us settle in but as the half progressed we kind of relaxed too much. Miami East was more in control but never really got good looks. It was a very physical game on a wet night.”
Hamlin gave the Bees a 2-0 lead in the second half, while Bruckman capped the scoring both on penalty shots to put the game out of reach.
“In the second half the intensity rose for both sides,” Hamlin said. “Fouls just seemed to kill the continuity of the game for both teams and it became a game of transition and no midfield.”
“I thought our kids played hard and were able to keep their composure. We have now won nine games in a row and had eight shutouts during that time.”
With the win, Bethel ran their record to 13-4-1.Their sectional finals game was played after deadline.
