The Lindenwood men’s soccer team ended their season with an 8-2 loss to the Bellarmine University Knights in the Great Lakes Valley Conference on Nov. 10 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Lions were matched against the No. 12 ranked Knights to start the tournament and were outmatched offensively throughout.

“We expect more,” head coach Carl Hutter said. “We didn’t show up, we weren’t good and we were unimaginable for our postseason game. We expect more from all of us.”

The Knights jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first half, scoring three goals in the first 12 minutes. The Knights scored in the 51st minute to push the lead to 4-0. Throughout the season, the Lions only gave up three goals, four times.

Luke McBeth scored in the 56th minute to put the Lions on the scoreboard for the first time in the match. The glimmer of hope for the Lions was quickly ended, as the Knights responded with three goals over the next three minutes to take a 7-1 lead.

McBeth led the team in total points for the season with 26.

Andres Gutierrez scored in the 63rd minute for the Lions, before another Knights goal ended the match, 8-2.

The Lions finished the season 7-7-4, with a 6-5-4 record within the conference and a 5-1-3 record at Hunter Stadium. The loss placed the Lions in the seventh position for the overall rankings of the GLVC.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, two Lions received all-GLVC honors at the Annual GLVC banquet in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Forward McBeth was named to the second team, while goalie Tim Licht got third team.

“It’s important for us to keep with a winning mentality and build on the successes,” Hutter said. “Our group is talented, and we worked hard, put in a lot of time, and enjoyed our successes. In the end, we are proud of them and we love them.”

During the season, the Lions had a three-game winning streak in October, defeating Missouri S&T,  No. 3 ranked Maryville University and Rockhurst University. The Lions then tied twice to William Jewell and Drury University at home before winning big against Southwest Baptist University with a 7-1 final score.

This is the first time the Lions qualify for the GLVC Championships as they joined the conference this year. The last time the Lions competed at the NCAA DII Nationals was in 2015, and the last MIAA Championships they qualified to was in 2014.

“It was tough, it wasn’t the way we wanted to end the season, but I’m really proud of this team,” junior Leon Silva said. “This is a group with a lot of talent, and all of them are committed. Unfortunately, this season ended much earlier than we hoped but we will work hard next year to make it an incredible one.”