North Newton, Kan. – The Central Christian College of Kansas women’s soccer team opened the 2026 season Saturday morning, falling 3-1 to the Bethel College Threshers at Joe McKenzie Field.
The Tigers battled throughout the match and held an advantage in several key statistical categories, finishing the afternoon with an 8-7 edge in total shots and an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Bethel struck first in the 20th minute when Malayasia Larque converted a penalty kick to give the Threshers a 1-0 lead. Central continued to create opportunities, with Leslie Canas, Chloe Clevenger, Cora Harrison and Mia Kittner each recording shots during the opening half.
Central’s persistence paid off immediately coming out of halftime. Just seconds into the second period, Kittner found the back of the net to bring the Tigers level at 1-1. Kittner led Central with three shots and recorded one shot on goal to go along with her first goal of the season.
The Tigers continued to pressure the Bethel defense following the equalizer. Central recorded five second-half corner kicks and created several additional chances, including a shot on goal from Clevenger in the 68th minute.
Bethel, however, regained the lead in the 69th minute when Adrianna Garcia scored off an assist from Larque. Larque added her second goal of the match in the 78th minute to push the Threshers’ advantage to 3-1.
The Threshers would go on to win the contest by that score of 3-1. Despite the result, Central showed plenty of offensive pressure in its first match of the season, earning eight corner kicks and limiting Bethel to seven total shots.
The Tigers (0-1), gear up to head down to Texas for a match against Paul Quinn College on August 28th at 6:00pm.
