Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Federico Simonetti, Men’s Soccer
Simonetti, a native of Crema, Italy, was named the GPAC Defensive Player of the Week after making three saves in last week’s 1-0 shutout win over Northwest University. Simonetti started at keeper for the 21st time in his Concordia career. He was named Second Team All-GPAC in 2020.
Female: Carly Rodaway, Volleyball
Rodaway, who hails from Lincoln, led the Bulldogs with a combined 19 kills (.390 hitting percentage) over last week’s wins over McPherson College (Kan.) and Texas Wesleyan University. On the season, Rodaway is hitting .294 with 53 kills from the right side.
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
Aug. 23 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball)
2021-22 BAAM Athletes of the Month
April – Jaidan Quinn (baseball) / Kendra Placke (golf)
March – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Camry Moore (softball) / Josie Puelz (track & field)
February – Gage Smith (basketball) / Josie Puelz (track & field)
January – Carter Kent (basketball) / Rylee Haecker (track & field)
December – Carter Kent (basketball) / Sarah Lewis (track & field)
November – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
October – Lane Napier (football) / Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
September – Caydren Cox (football) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Homecoming set for Sept. 15-18: Homecoming will be early in the fall semester this year. Festivities are set to run Sept. 15-18 with the highlights included the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame dinner and ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Sept. 16 followed by home football versus Hastings at 1 p.m. on Sept. 17. More information about homecoming weekend, including how to register, is available HERE. At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, six individuals and one team will join elite company. The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is included in a release found HERE.
Tickets for Battle in the Vault go on sale Sept. 1: Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Sept. 1 for the Battle in the Vault. The event will feature the Concordia University Men’s Basketball program playing against Oklahoma Wesleyan University in a matchup of two teams that reached the 2022 NAIA national quarterfinals. The game time is still to be announced, but tipoff will likely be early in the afternoon from Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. Following Concordia’s game, there will be two more contests at PBA: Drake University vs. Mississippi State University and the University of Nebraska vs. Queens University of Charlotte. Tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster.com and the Ticketmaster app in a mobile device. Simply search “Battle in the Vault” when using Ticketmaster.
Season Previews: The first official Concordia Athletics event of 2022-23 took place on Aug. 18 when the volleyball team emerged with wins over No. 19 Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Ore. Since then, the men’s soccer, women’s soccer and men’s golf squads have also begun their new seasons. Meanwhile, season openers are on tap this week for cross country, football and women’s golf. Other sports with upcoming fall competition include shooting sports (Sept. 10-11), lifting sports (Sept. 10-11) and men’s and women’s tennis (Sept. 13). For detailed season previews, check out the links below.
-Cross Country
-Football
-Men’s Golf / Women’s Golf
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball
New staff in 2022-23: Some Concordia athletic programs will have a new leader in 2022-23. The following head coaches are preparing for their debuts as Bulldog head coaches: Chase Clasen (wrestling), Brock Culler (softball), Freddie Myles (lifting sports) and Dylan Owens (shooting sports). In addition, the athletic training crew has welcomed Shelby Svatora to the staff. Meanwhile, several sports have hired new graduate assistant coaches. Their names and bios can be found by viewing sport specific coaching staff pages.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its eighth year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2022-23 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his eighth season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics partnered with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Volleyball
· The season is well underway for Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad, which has jumped out to a 5-0 start through two weeks of action. The 11th-ranked Bulldogs have taken part in the Raider Invitational (Aug. 18-19) hosted by Southern Oregon University and their own Bulldog Bash (Aug. 26-27). The wins have come over No. 19 Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon, Park University-Gilbert (Ariz.), McPherson College (Kan.) and Texas Wesleyan University. Both McPherson and Texas Wesleyan received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll released back on Aug. 10. Concordia is one of three GPAC teams still undefeated with five or more wins. For more information on Concordia Volleyball, click HERE.
· This marks the fifth year for Ben and Angie Boldt as leaders of the Bulldogs. Since they took the reins of the program prior to the 2018 season, Concordia has gone 82-37 with three national tournament appearances, including two that have resulted in quarterfinal advancements. The Bulldogs are one of only four programs nationally to have reached bracket play at the national tournament in each of the past three seasons. Entering the 2022 campaign, Boldt’s program has concluded three-straight seasons with top 15 national rankings in the official poll. The Bulldogs garnered final postseason national rankings of 14th in 2019, eighth in 2020 and sixth in 2021. Concordia has appeared inside the top 25 in 18 of the past 20 coaches’ polls (also received votes when not appearing in the top 25).
· At least so far, the Bulldogs have backed up their national ranking. Concordia has dropped only three sets over its five wins while sporting national statistical rankings of 11th in hitting percentage (.246) and 18th in kills per set (13.44). As a comparison, opponents have hit .120 with an average of 10.89 kills per set. Four Bulldogs have produced at least 40 kills on the season: Gabi Nordaker (55), Carly Rodaway (53), Ashley Keck (46) and Camryn Opfer (42). Nordaker paces the team with 13 blocks while Rebecca Gebhardt leads the way in digs with 86. Gebhardt totaled 25 digs versus Texas Wesleyan.
· Opfer surpassed a career milestone in the latest victory. Her 14 digs in the match pushed her past 1,000 for her collegiate career. The Seward High School product has produced 1,006 digs and 990 kills since becoming a Bulldog in 2019. Only three players in the history of the program have ever reached both 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career. Opfer has been central to everything the program has done since the moment she arrived on campus. She’s a two-time NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team selection and was named an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American last season.
· Bree Burtwistle has fit in nicely as the team’s primary setter. The native of Stanton, Neb., is in her third year in the program and in her first season as a starter. Bree Green has also seen time at setter as part of an occasional 6-2 system. Through five matches, Burtwistle has accumulated 186 assists (10.33/set), 52 digs and 11 kills. Her seamless transition has helped ease the loss of Tara Callahan, who was a five-year starter and someone instrumental to the growth of the program. A transfer from Midland, Burtwistle saw action in nine matches in 2021 and played in 29 matches for Midland in 2019.
· This will be a five-match week for the Bulldogs, who will first host Hastings (6-1, 0-0 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday (JV match at 6 p.m.). To close the week, Concordia will play four times between Friday/Saturday at the CNOS Fieldhouse in North Sioux City, Iowa. The opponents will be No. 9 Viterbo University (Wis.), Presentation College (S.D.), Dakota State University (S.D.) and Evangel University (Mo.). The latter two opponents are receiving votes nationally.
Men’s Soccer
· The new season got started last week with a trip to Salem, Ore., site of the Corban Jamboree. As part of the event, the Bulldogs picked up a 1-0 win over Northwest University (Wash.) on Aug. 25 before falling by the same score to host Corban University on Aug. 27. Both opponents are members of the NAIA’s Cascade Collegiate Conference. This was the first time in Jason Weides’ 15 years as head coach that the program has boarded a plane and flown to go play games. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2021 season that saw them finish at 7-8-3 overall and place fifth in the GPAC. For more information on Concordia Men’s Soccer, click HERE.
· Weides and member of the program admit that last season’s results fell below expectations. There is a strong belief that the Bulldogs will be better prepared to thrive in the close games that often went the other way in 2021. In terms of accolades, the team’s most noteworthy returner is center back Iker Casanova, who has earned back-to-back Second Team All-GPAC awards. Casanova is one of six returners who started at least 10 games last year. The others are Max Bisinger, Daniel Campbell, Martin Herrera, Carlos Orquiz and Isaiah Shaddick. In leading the way amongst returners, Herrera, Shaddick and Ryan Wokutch each tallied four goals last season.
· Wokutch got on the board in the 70th minute of last week’s victory over Northwest. The ninth career goal for Wokutch was assisted by one of the team’s impact newcomers in transfer Dominic Abdel-Ahad. In that contest, Wokutch attacked the opposition with three shots on goal. As a team, Concordia held advantages in overall shots, 12-4, and in shots on goal, 6-3, while having a slight edge in corner kicks, 4-3. At keeper, Federico Simonetti started game one and made three saves while playing all 90 minutes of the shutout. Simonetti is one of three returning keepers with starting experience for the Bulldogs. Northwest finished last season at 10-7-2 overall.
· In the second game of the road trip, Concordia took on a Corban squad that had beaten No. 25 Northwestern, 3-0, two days earlier. In this contest, the Bulldogs were limited to a total of three shots with none of them being on frame. The stat sheet credited a shot apiece to Bulldogs Carter Hinman, Victor Meneses and Miguel Navarro. They were three of 17 Concordia players to see action against Corban. In goal, Callum Goldsmith got the start and played all 90 minutes. He made three saves.
· Nine field players started both games in Oregon: Dominic Abdel-Ahad, Max Bisinger, Iker Casanova, Jarrod Henson, Martin Herrera, Carter Hinman, Carlos Orquiz, Isaiah Shaddick and Adrian Wambua. Of those nine, seven are returning players. The two newcomers are Abdel-Ahad (a transfer from Northwest Nazarene University) and Wambua, a freshman from Nairobi, Kenya. In addition, returners Matt Schultz and Braden Spath made one start apiece last week. Four Bulldogs have now been in the program for five or more years: Daniel Campbell, Goldsmith, Orquiz and Joao Pedro Verissimo.
· With no game in the middle of this week, Concordia has some time to get its legs back underneath it following the flight out to the Pacific Northwest. Up next is Saturday’s road trip to Tabor College for an 8:30 p.m. CT kickoff in Hillsboro, Kan. The Bulldogs hosted Tabor in 2021 and emerged with a 4-0 victory. The Bluejays have started 2022 at 1-1 after going 12-8-1 overall in 2021.
Women’s Soccer
· Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad was the first to host official action inside Bulldog Stadium this 2022-23 athletic year. By game’s on Aug. 27, the Bulldogs were celebrating by ringing the bell on a rainy Saturday. Concordia defeated Southwestern College (Kan.), 3-2, in a contest the home team never trailed. It marked the third year in a row that the two programs have met. The Bulldogs finished last season at 9-7-2 overall and in sixth place in the GPAC. Goines’ team landed in that same position in the conference preseason poll. For more information on Concordia Women’s Soccer, click HERE.
· The Bulldogs are aiming to get back into GPAC championship contention, something that has been a regular occurrence. The program has appeared in the conference tournament championship game six times since the beginning of the 2014 season. Many of the current upperclassmen contributed to the 2020 GPAC tournament championship game win over Jamestown. Goines led that particular team to an 11-6-2 mark. With last week’s result, Goines picked up the 94th win of his career coaching collegiate women’s soccer.
· The ’22 squad features three returning All-GPAC players in defenders Grace Soenksen (first team) and Allee Downing (honorable mention) and goalkeeper Kalie Ward (honorable mention). The Bulldogs played in plenty of low scoring matches a year ago when they tallied 23 goals and allowed 20. As a program, Concordia has built a reputation as a strong defensive unit. Downing and Soenksen are the backbone of a back line that included Taylor Slaymaker and freshman Hannah Kile as last week’s starters.
· The season opener with Southwestern provided plenty of entertainment. The second half featured two game-defining moments of frenzied action. The first came around the 60-minute mark when Bulldog keeper Angela Banks dove to her right and saved a penalty kick. In a scramble shortly after, Lisa McClain cleared a shot off the goal line and kept the score knotted, 1-1, at the time. Then in the 78th minute, Concordia put two goals on the board, one via an own goal and one off the foot of Aliyah Aldama, who tucked the ball inside the left post. The sixth career goal for Aldama proved to be the game winner.
· Niah Kirchner also got on the board with her first career collegiate goal, which came in the 24th minute of the victory. Kirchner was one of six freshmen to appear in the season opener. Kile and Kierstynn Garner both started while Kirchner, Elena Ruiz, Sierra Springer and Shi-Lynn Yon each came off the bench. A sophomore from Downey, Calif., Banks made her first career start in goal. Other returners who started were Aliyah Aldama, Allee Downing, Ellie Eason, Hannah Haas, Lina Kirst, Lisa McClain, Taylor Slaymaker and Grace Soenksen.
· This will be another one-game week as Concordia looks ahead to its first road game of the season. The Bulldogs will be in Hillsboro, Kan., for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff at Tabor College. In last season’s matchup between the two programs in Seward, Concordia took a 2-1 win. The Bluejays are 1-0 this season after finishing 2021 at 8-6-4 overall.
Football
· It’s game week for the Bulldogs, who kick off the 2022 season with a rivalry clash at Doane. Kickoff on Saturday from Papik Field in Crete, Neb., is slated for 7 p.m. CT. The season opener will come nearly a month after Concordia student-athletes first reported to campus on Aug. 8. Since then, the Bulldogs have held an instrasquad scrimmage and also scrimmaged against former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan University. This will mark the second time in three years that Concordia has opened a season with a game at Doane. For more information on Concordia Football, click HERE.
· More details on the Concordia-Doane matchup can be found by reading the game notes linked on the Bulldog Football page of the athletics website. This year’s contest will mark the 67th all-time meeting between the two nearby conference foes. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 42-21-3, but Concordia has made progress recently with series victories in 2020 and 2021. Last year’s matchup took place in Seward on Nov. 6 and resulted in a 20-13 Bulldog win. Concordia came back from a 13-7 deficit in the fourth quarter thanks to a seven-yard touchdown connection from DJ McGarvie to Cayden Beran and a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Jorge Ochoa.
· A detailed recap of the game will be available online late on Saturday night after the action concludes. The following links will supply live coverage of the game at Doane: webcast | stats. In addition, Parker Cyza and Ross Wurdeman will call the action live from Papik Field as the radio broadcast team for Max Country.
Cross Country
· The season will get started on Friday with the Augustana Twilight hosted by the University of Sioux Falls. The meet will get started at 8:30 p.m. CT from Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. This will mark the fourth time in five seasons that Head Coach Matt Beisel’s cross country squads have opened action at the Augustana Twilight. At last year’s event, the Bulldogs turned in team place finishes of eight out of 27 on the women’s side and 12th out of 31 on the men’s side. For more information on Concordia Cross Country, click HERE.
· Preseason cross country polls were unveiled last week with the GPAC announcement coming on Aug. 23 and the NAIA release following on Aug. 25. The Concordia squads checked in with GPAC preseason rankings of tied for third on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side. In addition, both Bulldog squads collected votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll. The women are situated just outside the top 25 (27th) with 87 points while the men collected 16 points (32nd).
· Throughout the season, recaps of each meet will be posted online in a timely manner. To view the complete 2022 schedule, click HERE.
Golf
· The season is underway for men’s golf, which was in the midst of playing the second day of the U.C. Ferguson Classic as of Tuesday (Aug. 30) morning. The Bulldogs turned in a school record single round score of 283 in Monday’s action at Lincoln Park West Golf Course in Oklahoma City, Okla. A JV group of Concordia golfers also got things going at the Mount Marty Fall Invite on Aug. 25-26. Meanwhile, the women’s team is waiting to get the 2022-23 campaign started this Friday and Saturday. For more information on Concordia Golf: Men | Women.
· The contributors to the school record round in Oklahoma City were Jake Richmond (69; T-8th), Ivan Yabut (71; T-33rd), Drew D’Ercole (71; T-33rd) and Justin Webert (72; T-52nd). In addition, Jake Hagerbaumer (76; T-80th) is competing as part of the five-man lineup while Gavin McWhorter (80; T-88th) and Josh D’Ercole (81; T-94th) represented the Bulldogs as individuals. Richmond entered day two residing inside the top 10 of a field that includes 102 golfers. The freshman from Elkhorn, Neb., has made an immediate splash after earning two state medalist awards during his prep career at Yutan High School.
· The previous school record for a single round had been 288 achieved by both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 squads. Russell Otten, Tylar Samek and Nolan Zikas were each a part of both former record-setting outings. The school record for a 36-hole event is 583, a feat accomplished by the 2017-18 and 2021-22 squads. Yabut remains the program’s individual record holder for a single round with the seven-under-par 65 he shot last fall. Yabut placed fifth in the GPAC last season and has the ability to challenge for a conference title next spring.
· Head Coach Brett Muller is in his 12th season leading the golf programs. The Bulldogs finished the 2021-22 season with GPAC place finishes of fifth (351-353-365-343–1,412) on the women’s side and sixth (298-308-313–919) on the men’s side. The women’s program has placed fifth or better in each of the past three seasons behind Kendra Placke. With Placke having graduated, the top returners are Logan Eschliman, Lauren Havlat and Mya Nurse.
· A complete recap of the U.C. Ferguson Classic will be available online once results have been finalized. The men will be back in action next week to host the Blue River Invite at Highlands Golf Course on Sept. 6-7. The women’s season gets started on Thursday with day one of the Mount Marty Fall Invite at Fox Run Golf Course in Hillcrest Golf Course. Both the Concordia men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to play five total events this fall.