ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- The numbers are supposed to never lie.

 

Over its last six games, the Augsburg College men's soccer team has outshot its opponents by a 97-49 margin, including a 50-24 advantage in shots-on-goal. Augsburg has had 51 corner kicks to its opponents' 25. Augsburg has had shot advantages over its opponents in five of the six games, the same advantage it has had in corner kicks in the stretch. Those numbers usually mean a winning margin for the team with the advantages.

 

But unfortunately, the numbers haven't been kind to the Auggies.

 

Augsburg suffered its third straight 1-0 loss on Wednesday, this time at the hands of host Bethel University, as the Royals scored a goal late in the first half of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Ona North Complex.

 

"Just read the boxscore and it tells you what you need to know. Finishing is kind of important," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker, whose team has lost its last six games after a 5-0-1 start to the season. "In our last three 1-0 losses, we have outshot our opponents 53-13, we've put 29 of those on frame compared to just eight for our opponents. We've taken 33 corner kicks and conceded 13. We've had three goals called back by officials. It's been absolutely mesmerizing."

 

Against the Royals, Augsburg (5-6-1 overall, 1-5-0 MIAC was again dominant from start to finish in the statistical categories, outshooting Bethel (8-4-1 overall, 4-2-1 MIAC) by a 22-3 margin, including a 17-1 advantage in shots-on-goal. Augsburg had 14 corner kicks to Bethel's five.

 

But Bethel scored the lone goal of the game in the 44th minute, as David Kim scored from Brendan Harper and Michael Voigtlander. Nick Kantor stopped all 17 shots he faced for the Royals to pick up the shutout win.

 

The Auggies had a goal disallowed on an offsides call in the first half. Despite the setback, the Auggies never quit in the game and kept applying pressure, which earned Holker's praise.

"Today, Peter Loyd (SO, Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) was fantastic to watch. He did all the little things well and created chances for us. He actually set up Jeff Butler's (FY, Prior Lake, Minn.) goal that was called back with a great service. Jeff did extremely well to take the ball out of the air and calmly finish it. It's too bad it was decided he was offside," Holker said. 

"David Scheller (SO, Maple Grove, Minn.) did well to create chances early in the game by getting around the endline and serving dangerous balls into the box," Holker added. "I thought Alex Hildebrandt (SR, St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) put more responsibility on his shoulders and did very well getting forward. Lucas Ingram's (SR, Woodbury, Minn.) defending was great; he busted up Bethel counterattacks quickly."

With the loss, Augsburg's hopes of returning to the four-team MIAC postseason playoffs took a tremendous hit. With four league games remaining, Augsburg has three conference points, under the conference's new system of three points for a win and one for a tie. Bethel currently sits in fourth place with 13 league points and three conference games remaining.

"Some will call this a monumental collapse by a team that was thought to be one of the best in the region and maybe the country," Holker said. "It's just shocking. However, like I said Saturday night, I am as proud of this team as I have been of any other Augsburg team I've coached. These guys will continue to make an honest effort to ensure that the right team wins the MIAC this season. We will not quit. We will not stop bringing the game to our opponents."

The hopes of playing spoiler begin on Saturday (10/17) at 7 p.m., when the Auggies host MIAC-leader Carleton at Edor Nelson Field.

"Carleton just got a huge win over St. Thomas and now look to try and lock up a share of the MIAC title when they come here Saturday night. A win will give them their third straight conference crown -- a great accomplishment by any standard," Holker said.