Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU men's soccer team began their 2025 season with a dominant 3-1 victory. This win came against the Evangel Valor at the SBU soccer field, leading the Bearcats to a 1-0 start. 
 
The Bearcats controlled most of the game keeping possession of the ball and putting pressure on the Valor defense. Despite numerous attempts early on, Southwest Baptist was unable to put the ball in the back of the net. The pressure got put back on the home team when Evangel capitalized on their only shot of the first half to take a 0-1 lead.
 
That goal just lit the fire underneath the Bearcats as that battled putting relentless pressure on the Valor. This led to a goal by Myles Paniagua, assisted by Victor Valero to knot the game up at one. Less than a minute later Piotr Rapczynski launched a rocket of a ball into the back of the net. This goal assisted by Giovanni Cascone put the Bearcats on top 2-1. SBU held that one goal lead until the final minutes of the game when Ugo Morvan found the bottom 90 of the net from outside the 18, putting the game out of reach.
 
Shots were heavily in favor of Southwest Baptist with 17 to 2 and seven shots on goal. Three field players played the full 90 minutes of Derrick Londono Zapata, Ugo Morvan, and Nadir Souak. 
 
Southwest Baptist will look to continue this strong start on Saturday September 6th. The Bearcats will take on the Mission University Patriots at 6:00pm in Springfield, Missouri.