VIDEO: Most thrilling Concordia Bulldogs wins of 2024-25
Throughout 2024-25 athletics season, Concordia Bulldogs teams closely competed at the top of the GPAC standings while achieving relevance on a national scale. The highlights of the past year included monumental – and, in some cases, historical – wins that will be remembered long into the future. Below is a closer examination of the five most thrilling team victories (plus one) in 2024-25. Special consideration was given to the strength of opponent, significance of the win from an overall season perspective and to historical context (such as a ‘first’ in program history).
Football upsets No. 2 Northwestern on homecoming in Orange City
The Score: Concordia 29, (2) Northwestern 17 (Orange City, Iowa)
Date: October 5, 2024 (game No. 6 of the regular season)
Context: Head Coach Patrick Daberkow felt confident that his program was getting closer to the elite level it aspired to reach, but it needed that big win to validate such sentiments. On Oct. 5, 2024, the unranked Bulldogs raised eyebrows around the NAIA football landscape when they upset second-ranked Northwestern on homecoming in Orange City, Iowa. Not since 2002 had Concordia won on the home turf of the perennially powerful Red Raiders. At long last, Concordia got it done – and it was no fluke. The Bulldogs dominated up front, outrushing the opposition, 147-52, while out-sacking Northwestern, 5-0. Nose guard Carson Fehlhafer was named NAIA National Defensive Player of the Week after mulling the Red Raiders for three sacks. Safety Daylon Henson plucked two interceptions and Luke Penrod and Jaden Seier nabbed one pick apiece. Concordia sealed the game in the fourth quarter with a Henson interception that was followed by a Mark Arp cherry-on-top touchdown. The victory catapulted the Bulldogs to an 8-2 overall record, a No. 18 final NAIA national ranking and into consideration for an NAIA playoff berth. The result came a week after a missed opportunity at home versus No. 9 Dordt. The sting was quickly washed away.
Said Daberkow after the game, “We had things go our way today because we forced them to go our way. Our players made plays in big moments. Big players make big plays in big games. This is a big game for us. To go do it on the road in an environment like this up here – it had been too long. We’re really excited about what happened today. I’m more excited about the locker room and how they handled the loss last week. I’m just proud of our guys. That was about as much fun as I’ve had in a postgame locker room. Singing The Doxology is always a lot more fun after a win.”
Women’s Soccer makes history with program’s first-ever national tournament win
The Score: Concordia 2, Benedictine 0 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Date: November 21, 2024 (NAIA National Championship First Round)
Context: Three previous Concordia Women’s Soccer teams had qualified for the national tournament, but none of them tasted victory on the national stage. Head Coach Nick Smith’s 2024 edition broke new ground on Nov. 21, 2024, when it toppled frequent nonconference foe Benedictine College (Kan.), 2-0, in round one of the NAIA National Championships. The victory ignited a spirited on-field celebration on a chilly, overcast day in Grand Rapids, Mich., home to Aquinas College. The contest was a 0-0 stalemate for more than 80 minutes before Rosie Gyllenswan knocked in a point-blank shot off a corner kick from Kierstynn Garner. In the final moments, Garner then got loose for a goal that put the game in the bank. Gyllenswan and Garner notched the first two national tournament goals in school history in what amounted to the team’s 14th win of the season. In goal, Angela Banks (five saves) earned the clean sheet. The Bulldogs ended their season in the next round with a loss at the hands of host Aquinas, but the ’24 team will always have the distinction of being the first to win at the national tournament.
Said Smith after the win over Benedictine, “This is a team now that has their names all over the record books. We talk all the time about leaving a legacy within the program and to have an opportunity to do something no one in Concordia Women’s Soccer history has been able to do before. We knew that our preparation was good. We knew if we would come out and perform, we were going to be able to make some noise today. This group of young women came through.”
Women’s Tennis takes down Morningside for GPAC tournament title
The Score: Concordia 4, Morningside 2 (Sioux City, Iowa)
Date: April 26, 2025 (GPAC Championship Match)
Context: After avenging a regular season defeat in the GPAC tournament semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Doane, Head Coach Lisa Hart’s squad figured it might as well win the whole thing. The first GPAC postseason championship in Concordia Women’s Tennis history was celebrated on April 26 as the Bulldogs took down top-seeded Morningside, 4-2, on its home court in Sioux City, Iowa. Concordia took the doubles point thanks to the work of Chakira Derman and Alana Lopez Pagan at No. 2 and Tessa Blough and Alexa Richert at No. 3. In singles, triumphs were delivered by Chakira Derman at No. 2, Alana Lopez Pagan at No. 3 and Nina Milic at No. 6. Concordia effectively upended a Mustang squad that won the GPAC regular season title. After coming up short in the 2019 GPAC tournament title match, the 2025 Bulldogs came through and booked their ticket to the national tournament in Mobile, Ala. Hart’s team finished the 2024-25 season with a school record 17 wins.
Said Coach Hart following the championship victory, “So incredibly proud of the resilience and fight our team showed today. They’ve worked so hard all season and have bought into everything we have asked. We will take a few days off to recover and focus on school, and then we will get back to work in preparation for nationals. I’m extremely proud of every single member of our team. Everyone has bought into their role on the team, stayed in the moment, and has kept positive through the entire season.”
Volleyball defeats Mount Vernon Nazarene to advance to national quarterfinals
The Score: (4) Concordia def. (13) Mount Vernon Nazarene, 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 (Sioux City, Iowa)
Date: December 6, 2024 (NAIA Pool Play – Finals of Pool D)
Context: A spot in the NAIA national quarterfinals for the third time in five years was on the line as No. 4 seed Concordia met No. 13 seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) in a winner-take-all matchup in Pool D. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad was up for the challenge, putting together perhaps its cleanest match of the season. The Bulldogs swept past the Cougars behind 12 kills from Ashley Keck, an efficient effort from Gabi Nordaker in the middle and six blocks from Ava Greene. Concordia put on a clinic from a serving and blocking perspective and outhit MVNU, .216 to .089. The season was cut short in the quarterfinals, but Concordia polished off another successful season at 27-4 overall. Six-straight Concordia Volleyball seasons have resulted in journeys to the final site of the national tournament.
Said Boldt after the latest national tournament win, “I’m super glad that they get to experience it. I think we approached it mentally in a great way. If you lose a game, it doesn't mean you’re a bad volleyball player. If you win a game, it doesn’t mean you’re a great volleyball player. We just need to be who we are, and our team supports each other. We come back to our core values all the time. That’s basically what we kept saying to each other. Our theme this year has been ‘grit,’ and I think we owned that mentality today.”
Baseball pummels Dordt to clinch GPAC regular season title
The Score: Concordia 11, Dordt 1 (Seward, Neb.)
Date: April 19, 2025 (42nd game of the regular season; game four of series versus Dordt)
Context: The four-game, mid-April series was completely dominated by Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad, which was on a mission to clinch the 2025 GPAC regular season title. That’s exactly what happened in game four of the series as the Bulldogs walloped the Defenders, again, 11-1. The run rule went into effect when Brad Hallock lifted a drive that found the grass in right center. In reaction, Concordia players dogpiled (sort of) near second base in celebration of the fifth GPAC regular season title won during Dupic’s tenure (2015-present). The Bulldogs wrapped up the league race with a full four games to play in the regular season. A group of 13 seniors had the rare opportunity to enjoy such a feat on senior day. One day earlier, Jaidan Quinn broke the program record for career home runs. In another storybook run, Concordia extended two impressive streaks – five-straight seasons of 40+ wins and six-consecutive seasons of reaching the national tournament. The ’25 squad went on to become the program’s first to host an NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
Said Dupic of the achievement, “Very blessed. It’s very cool to have so many people – family, friends and parents – celebrating here today. For our guys to get to celebrate so many different milestones, individual and team, all in the same weekend is really special. I’m just very grateful to have an opportunity to celebrate another conference championship and to do it at home on senior day. You really can’t ask for much more than that.”
Men’s Basketball thrashes No. 11 Dordt at home
The Score: Concordia 99, (11) Dordt 72 (Seward, Neb.)
Date: January 4, 2025 (game No. 15 of the regular season)
Context: The 2024-25 men’s basketball team also won a combined three postseason games, but the victory that occurred on Jan. 4, 2025, was its most impressive. Eleventh-ranked Dordt carried a spotless 15-0 record into action inside Friedrich Arena – but it ran into a buzzsaw while ringing in the new year. As snow blanketed the ground outside, Brad Bennett hit the Defenders with a blizzard of eight treys in a 99-72 woodshedding. The game was never close. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-0 lead out of the gate and built the advantage to 20 points less than 10 minutes after tipoff. Bennett finished with a game-high 26 points and high-flyin’ Tristan Smith added 21 points and 13 rebounds. Concordia shot an otherworldly 62.3 percent from the floor in displaying just how good it could be when it played at peak level. The victory helped spur the Bulldogs to a 26-7 overall record in a season that included a GPAC tournament runner up claim and advanced to the second round of the national tournament.
Said Limback of the win over Dordt, “You could see our guys knew we wanted to change the outcome from the first time we played them. They got us up there. We didn’t play well, and we knew it. This is a really good team, and we jumped on them early. Offensively, we started to roll. Brad Bennett – clearly, he can get it going. It was a great team effort. We don’t do this if we don’t have good practices and a good locker room approach. I thought we caught them on a cold night, but there’s greatness in this team.”