Seward, Neb. – The Concordia men’s soccer team’s quest to “go further” starts this Saturday (Aug. 26) as the defending GPAC Tournament Champion Bulldogs start with a standoff against Graceland University (Iowa). Seasoned head coach Jason Weides (16th year) is not content with settling with the same impressive result of 2022 but wants to use that as a building block to reach new heights for the program. Picked to finish second in the GPAC, the Bulldogs are just outside of the NAIA national top 25 rankings where the men’s program has never been ranked in program history.
This Week
Saturday, Aug. 26 vs. Graceland (6-8-4), 5 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium
By the numbers
· Jason Weides enters his sixteenth year as head coach of the Bulldogs and has taken the program to another level with exactly 150 wins before entering the 2023 season. His teams own the top four out of five winningest seasons with 2017 coming out on top with a 16-3-1 and 7-2 GPAC record losing in the finals of the GPAC tournament. He has won the GPAC tournament twice in 2015 and 2022 and is still looking for a regular season championship. His 2015 GPAC season was not a shiny record ending the season at 4-4-2 but the Bulldogs played together when it mattered the most besting at then No. 19 Hastings (1-0) to take out the top seed for their first tournament championship in history. His players fill the top 10 individual awards with athletes like Nathan Douglas, Aaron Skipworth and Mark Horsburgh. Many accomplishments have been made under Weides but still, in this next season he looks to “go further.”
· The 2022 season was a special one as the Bulldogs ended their campaign with a GPAC tournament championship and an NAIA playoff berth for the second time in Concordia’s history. The team ended with a 15-3-3 overall record and a historic 8-1-2 GPAC record eclipses the most GPAC wins in the program. They tied the record with nine shutouts (2017, 2015) and second most goals with 51 on the year. Big wins came against Briar Cliff, Dordt and Hastings in the GPAC championship run winning on penalty kicks against at then No. 23 Hastings. Key players over the season were leading goal scorers Dominic Abdel-Ahad (12) and Ryan Wokutch (6) also assist leaders Carlos Orquiz (12) and Isaiah Shaddick (6). Holding down the defense were first team All-GPAC Center Back Max Bisinger and All-GPAC second team Matt Schultz and midfielder All-GPAC second team Martin Herrera.
· Isaiah “Izzy” Shaddick, a product of Lincoln Southwest High School, broke into the top 10 in CUNE career assists against Dordt on Sept. 21 earning his third of six assists last season totaling 13 assists in his four years. Now, taking advantage of his 5th year (Covid), Shaddick looks to be the 7th Bulldog to break into the top 10 in assists and goals scored (current-17). He has a chance to become the third Bulldog in history to have 20 goals and 15 assists (Nathan Douglas and Aaron Skipworth). He is the second leading points returner for Concordia behind Ryan Wokutch. Shaddick has started in 32 games and played 35 games the past two seasons.
· Concordia loses all three of their All-GPAC first teamers in Dominic Abdel-Ahad, Max Bisinger and Carlos Orquiz. Concordia welcomes back five All-GPAC award winners: Martin Herrera (second team), Schultz (second team), Shaddick (second team); Ryan Wokutch (second team) and Gabriel Mendoza (honorable mention). In addition, two-time second team all-league choice Iker Casanova returns to the back line as a captain entering his fourth year as a starter. Wokutch (six goals in 2022) represents the leading returning goal scorer while Shaddick will look to add goals and assists this season. Four others who saw action in last season’s national tournament are back in the fold: Jarrod Henson, Slade Leicht, Meneses and Adrian Wambua. As a freshman, Wambua was one of three players to start all 21 games in 2022 (joining Abel-Ahad and Orquiz in that category). The list of experienced that are here for another season also includes the likes of Carter Hinman, Spencer Kaufman, Michael Lindberg and Braden Spath.
· The season slate lines up with a split into six nonconference matches and 12 GPAC matches which break down into nine away matches and nine inside Bulldog Stadium. Conference play is slated to open versus Mount Marty on Sept. 16. Before the GPAC, will host York University, Tabor College and McPherson College (Kan.). They will also travel, in that time, to Bellevue University and Benedictine College (Kan.). Intriguing GPAC matchups for the Bulldogs include hosting top three finisher Dordt on Sept. 20 and preseason third ranked Midland on Sept. 27. The biggest matchup in the preseason takes place on Oct. 14 at Lloyd Wilson Field versus GPAC regular season champions Hastings Broncos.
Graceland
Graceland went 6-8-4 in the 2022 season taking wins over William Woods (Mo.), Doane, Simpson College (Iowa), William Penn (Iowa), Park University (Mo.) and Evangel (Mo.). The Yellow Jackets lose their top-two goal scorers (Cristobal Ponce and Nicolo Monacelli) and assist leader (Alonso Campos) from a season ago. Scoring by committee their key returners are Lucas Porter was the third leading scorer from 2022. These two teams will meet for the first time since 2017 when the Bulldogs won (2-1) in the final minutes on a penalty kick by Marcelo Hernandez over the Yellow Jackets.
Next Week
The Bulldogs will stay at home to host two nonconference matches on Aug. 30 and Sept. 2. The matches are listed below and both matches will be played at Bulldog Stadium in Seward.
Wednesday, Aug. 30
5:30 p.m. – vs. York
Saturday, Sept. 2
5:30 p.m. – vs. Tabor