SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer cemented its place atop the GPAC standings, claiming the regular-season crown outright with the shutout over Northwestern, 3-0, on Saturday (Oct. 24). The Bulldogs scored on the bookends of the opening half and smothered the Red Raider attack for all 90 minutes.
Head Coach Bernie Ochoa and his roster take the regular season crown for the first time in program history. The Seward side is undefeated (9-0) in conference play and on a 10-game winning streak with an 11-4 overall showing.
“It's definitely big,” Coach Ochoa said about winning the regular season outright. “We talked about it before, and it was kind of a joke, but serious at the same time. Nobody likes sharing anything, right? We knew what was at stake, just like we do each and every game. The boys came out fired up. We knew that we hadn't accomplished anything yet and that we needed to come out strong with the same tactical game plan. We knew we needed these three points to continue moving forward in the GPAC.”
In true 2026 Concordia Men’s Soccer fashion, all three goals came from three different finishers. The side has 48 goals this season, good enough for fourth all time with at least two games remaining.
Coming out of the gates firing, Lucas Montino connected with twin brother Sebastian to break the game open early. In just the second minute, Sebastian slotted the ball to the left of the keeper for his sixth goal of the season.
As the opening half wound down, Hugo Garrote cashed in on a feed from Mattis Hollnagel to double the Bulldogs' advantage. The Spaniard now ranks second on the team with 15 points.
In the second half, Connor Robbins found a lane after a Joe McCarroll pass. The Millard North product lost his defender and kicked a dagger for his third goal of the season.
In pursuit of their sixth clean sheet of the season, Sean Stratman, Florian Quast (two saves) and the stout Bulldog defense suffocated Northwestern's attack, leaving little room for quality opportunities. Niko Nareike, Michael Wyvill, Lucas Montino, Elijah Fulton and Hollnagel, among others, anchored a defensive unit that surrendered just three shots on frame.
Stratman made stops in multiple one-v-one situations and a save when the net was empty.
“That was one of our big goals going into the season, to win the regular-season championship because we've never done that before, “Stratman said. “To accomplish it, especially the way we've done it, is really special. We're all about making history, and I think we've done that in a really fun way. We're playing some good football right now. Everybody is clicking, and it's really fun to play in this system with all the guys. Everything is coming together right now.”
The Bulldogs won the shot count (17-8) as both teams had three yellows apiece.
Northwestern (9-3-3, 4-3-2 GPAC) will host Dordt for its final regular season matchup.
Concordia will welcome Midland (1-12-1, 1-7-1 GPAC) on Wednesday for its final regular season contest. The Bulldogs will take the field at 5:30 p.m. CT inside Bulldog Stadium. The Seward roster was defeated by the Warriors, 3-0, in Fremont in 2025.