SEWARD, Neb. – With the Bulldogs earning the third seed in the GPAC tournament, the Seward side will welcome sixth-seeded Hastings to Bulldog Stadium on Saturday night (Nov. 1).As this matchup has been played five out of the last 10 times in the conference playoff championship, it will be an all-out brawl to move on to the semifinal. Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer totaled 21 points with a 7-3 GPAC record (9-8 overall) to earn the host spot in the postseason playoff.
Next Match
GPAC Quarterfinals: Saturday, Nov. 1 vs. Hastings (8-4-5, 4-3-3 GPAC), 6 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium (Seward, Neb.)
--Admission: $10 for adults/senior citizens, $3 for K-12; only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s are admitted free of charge.
The Bulldogs have won the tournament two times under Head Coach Jason Weides (2015, 2022) and will make their 16th GPAC tournament appearance (18 total) under the 18-year front man. Concordia will look to make the semifinals for the ninth time in the program’s history. Last year, the No. 2 seed Bulldogs were upset (1-0) by No. 5 Hastings in the GPAC final. With a mixed bag of experience and newcomers, Concordia will rely on the steady feet of Adrian Wambua, Hugo Garrote, Mike Wyvill, Slade Leicht, Oliver Benson and Mattis Hollnagel.
Sam Hamilton scored his first goal of the season against the Tigers and gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Jasper Hofland scored 27 minutes later just after the halftime break via Hugo Garrote. Up 2-0, Concordia looked primed to keep the No. 3 seed until Doane scored back-to-back goals via Guillermo Hamue and Mateo Garcia D'Elett. In the 79th minute, Hofland sprinted toward a almost certain goal opportunity and was fouled just inside the 18-yard box. Ricards Busmeisters made the penalty look easy for his seventh tally of the season. The Bulldogs would hold on winning, 3-2, in final regular season showdown.
Starting 0-4 on the season and the first eight games 2-6, the first half of the season looking bleak might have been an understatement for Coach Weides’ worst start as head of the program. Yet with half the roster turning over, the old and the new began to gel and have rallied for a 7-2 showing in the last nine. On a three-match win streak, the Bulldogs have won five of their last six, including victories over Hastings (3-1), Waldorf (5-0), Dakota Wesleyan (2-1), Dordt (2-0) and Doane (3-2). With one of its early mantras being uncommon, Concordia has truly shown a championship mentality in response to the early falters.
Hofland has started to show his mind for goals having scored his four of his season’s five in the last six games. The Blue Mountain Christian transfer has one game winning goal. The Bulldogs are 5-0 when Hofland scores for the side. In his 15 games played, he has 22 shots with a .227 shot percentage and .500 on goal. He has 10 total points in his initial campaign with the Dawgs.
Chavarria is the current GPAC Defensive Player of the Week after back-to-back stellar performances versus Dakota Wesleyan and Dordt. The Jaca, Spain native collected five saves and a shutout against the Defenders to earn his first conference honor. The senior transfer has a 6-2 record in his nine games played with three clean sheets. In 758 minutes, Chavarria leads the conference in goals allowed (eight) and save percentage (.824). He is second in goals allowed average (0.95).
On Oct. 8, 2025, Hastings jumped out to an early lead with a score in the 7th minute by Juan Rubio. In response, Hofland notched a goal to tie it via Connor Robbins and Kai Olbrich kicked in the go-ahead via Oliver Benson. The Bennington, Neb., native kept going with a mark on the scoreboard of his own, as the visitors rattled off three unanswered. After the initial surge by the Broncos, the Dawg defense slammed the door shut in its defensive third with only one on goal in the second half.
In the newest NAIA RPI, the Bulldogs are rated 95th with a 0.505 RPI score. The Seward side has the 96th-ranked schedule in the rundown. The upcoming Hastings are slotted to 86th in the ratings and have earned the score with the 152nd-ranked strength of schedule. Midland has the conference’s highest rating at No. 29 and has the 69th strongest slate. Northwestern (56) and Morningside (82) round out the top 100 for the GPAC.
The opponent
The Broncos finished their season with an 8-4-5 record and a 4-3-3 GPAC showing to total 17 points. Hastings was on a four-game unbeaten streak before running into a buzzsaw Midland falling 8-1. Tim Berger is all over the top-5 offensive leader categories for the conference, scoring 12 goals (fourth), 27 points (fourth), and shooting 49 shots (third) this season. The Broncos have scored 28 goals in 17 games (1.65 GAA), while allowing 1.71 goals per contest. Averaging 12.0 shots per game, they have earned a .137 shot percentage and a .500 shot on target ratio. The defense has claimed four shutouts with two coming in the last four games. Ethan Watkins has spent 1,356 minutes between the posts grabbing 59 total saves on a .738 save percentage. He has allowed 21 goals and an average of 1.39 goals per game.
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Nov. 1
(8) Mount Marty at (1) Northwestern, 2 p.m.
(5) Dakota Wesleyan at (4) Morningside, 1 p.m.
(6) Hastings at (3) Concordia, 6 p.m.
(7) Briar Cliff at (2) Midland, 6 p.m.
Semifinals – Friday, Nov. 7
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, time TBA
2/7 winner vs. 3/6 winner, time TBA
Championship – Wednesday, Nov. 11
Highest remaining seed hosts, time TBA