LU-Belleville looks to build on last year’s success
Lindenwood University-Belleville head men’s soccer coach Dan Hogan has announced the Lynx 2016 schedule.
LU-Belleville is coming off an historic 2015 campaign which saw them go 17-8 overall, win its second consecutive American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament Championship, became the first team from LU-Belleville to advance to the final site at the National Tournament and finished the year ranked No. 4 in the NAIA, which is its highest ranking in program history.
Entering the AMC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, the Lynx took on rival Hannibal-LaGrange in the first round were able to hang on for the 1-0 victory. From there, the team took on Columbia College, who was ranked top-10 in the nation at the time and again LU-Belleville won 1-0 behind Oriol Lopez overtime goal.
In the AMC Championship game, the Lynx squared off against Park University and despite Park taking a 1-0 lead at the 40:35 mark, the Lynx scored the equalizer just before the break on a goal by Guillermo Chinchilla.
Then, at 77:56, Sebastian Reyes would score to give the Lynx a 2-1 advantage. The teams’ defense stood tall the final 22:00 minutes of play and they earned its second AMC Championship and another trip to Nationals.
On the national stage, the Lynx picked up impressive wins over University of Northwestern Ohio (2-1) and Bellevue University (2-1; OT) to advance onto the quarterfinals and meet up with Columbia College.
The Cougars struck early just two minutes in to take a 1-0 lead. Lopez would tie the game up at 1-1 in the 38th minute and in the 66th minute Lopez found the back of the net again, which allowed the Lynx to go on to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over the Cougars.
In the semifinals, the Lynx faced MidAmerica Nazarene and the Pioneers scored three first half goals.. In the 54thminute Enrique Garcia cut into the deficit and three minutes later the Lynx found themselves down by one on a goal by Chinchilla.
Despite its efforts, MNU added another at the 63:54 mark, giving them a 4-2 win and ending the Lynx incredible run at Nationals.
Looking to build off last season’s success, the Lynx will get its 2016 season under way with two scrimmage outings against Southwestern Illinois College on Aug.16 and then pay a visit to Truman State University on Aug. 20.
Its regular season will begin on Aug. 27 as they’ll travel to Lamoni, Iowa, to face a tough opponent in Graceland University. Four days later the Lynx will play its first home game at 6 p.m., against Robert Morris College.
Last season, LU-Belleville went 5-3 at home and since 2013 they are 23-3-1 overall, including going 18-0-1 during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
The Lynx will have a couple of tough games back-to-back in September as they’ll face Campbellsville University on Sept. 3 and then return home to face the Vikings out of Missouri Valley College on Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Both of those teams’ finished inside the top-15 NAIA Postseason Poll in 2015. Campbellsville ended up No. 12, while the Vikings ended up at No. 3.
After its showdown with MVC, LU-Belleville hosts its first AMC game against Freed-Hardeman on Sept. 13.
The team will stay in AMC play as they’ll visit Williams Baptist College on Sept. 17, host William Woods on Sept. 21 and head back down to Arkansas to face No. 23-ranked Lyon College on Sept. 24.
At the beginning of October, the Lynx will have its longest home stand of three games, but it’ll also likely be its toughest.
The team will face No. 19 Cumberland University on Oct. 5, Hannibal-LaGrange on Oct. 8 and will conclude with a showdown against No. 6-ranked Columbia College on Oct. 12.
They’ll close out its regular season schedule with two games at home and two on the road. The team will travel to St. Louis, Missouri, twice to face St. Louis College of Pharmacy (Oct. 18) and Missouri Baptist University (Oct. 25).
In between its trip to St. Louis, the Lynx host Central Baptist College on Oct. 22 and will close the season out on Senior Day against Harris-Stowe State on the Oct. 29.
This story was originally published July 16, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "LU-Belleville looks to build on last year’s success."