STORM LAKE, Iowa (Aug. 31, 2025) - It was the home opener for the Buena Vista men's soccer team on Sunday afternoon against Blackburn College and was a thrilling match from start to finish, but the Battlin' Beavers would spoil the day for the Beavers by scoring a second half goal and winning 1-0.

The winner of the match was playing for the Evan Edwards Memorial Traveling Trophy which was captured by BVU in the inaugural match-up between the team sides last season. Today's match was a tightly-contested battle from the opening kickoff with both teams facing multiple scoring opportunities in each half.

Buena Vista came out on the attack in the first half where it turned in six of it's seven shots in the game, but were just off target on four of them. Defensively, the team held Blackburn to only two total shots over the first 45 minutes and the teams were tied 0-0 at the half.

It wasn't until the match approached the 80th minute when Blackburn eventually broke through on a rebounded shot attempt by Brayden Smith that found the back left corner of the net. Buena Vista pushed the ball down field on multiple occassions down the stretch and looking for a good shot attempt but came up short.

Seven different players took a shot for the home team in the contest with Bryaden Schwinck, Alberto de la Cruz and Jeramiah Rediske all chalking up one that was on-goal. Zachary Sigler suffered the tough-luck loss in-goal despite going the distance and allowing just the one goal and turning in three saves.

Buena Vista is now 1-1 overall this season and is back on the field to host Minnesota-Morris on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 3:30 p.m. inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.