Alumni Battle Knights in 2nd Annual Soccer Match

Women’s alumni (in red) defeated the Lady Knights 2-1.

Southwestern alumni and current Southwestern students participated in the 2^nd annual alumni soccer game on Sunday. After both alumni teams lost last year, women’s and men’s alumni teams each avenged their losses and won their games this year. The women’s alumni soccer team won 2-1 while the men’s alumni soccer team won in comeback fashion by the final score of 6-5.

Just like last year, both the women’s and the men’s team had a blast, as they got to reconnect with friends and coaches they had not seen in years. Last year Luis Negrete, Southwestern Adventist University men’s and women’s soccer coach, expressed how much he looks forward to the alumni game and this year was no different.

Knights (in white) held their own, but lost in a comeback bid by the alumni 6-5.

“I always look forward to interacting with alumni from the past and players that I coached in past years,” said Negrete. “I enjoy hearing their stories and asking them about their families and their new careers.”

This alumni game featured some very dedicated alumni who sacrificed a lot to participate in the soccer classic. A total of 18 men and 16 women alumni took time off their busy schedules to participate in this special alumni soccer game.

Liz Jimenez, education graduate from the class of 2015, drove 20 hours from Pennsylvania, where she now teaches, to come play in the alumni game. Another alumna worked an all-night shift the night before, but was dedicated enough to come straight to the game after her long shift of work. These sacrifices by alumni reflect how committed they are to the soccer classic and why it’s been a success in its first two years.

“I enjoyed playing in my first soccer classic. I loved reconnecting with my teammates and meeting some of the alumni that I’d never met before,” said Angelica Perez, current ESL student at Southwestern. “I hope to participate in many more soccer classics in the future and I hope to play in one as an alumna someday as well.”                      

“Many times as coaches the outside judges us by wins and losses on the field. I am glad that here the only judging we worry about is making sure our students are winners in their relationship with Christ, on and off the pitch,” said Negrete. “I have no doubt when these young and young at heart alumni return to play that the Lord’s work is being done.”

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