JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Coming out sluggish after a long road trip is not uncommon to anyone and the same was true for the No. 22 Bulldogs on Saturday night (Oct. 7). After making the eight hour drive to Jamestown, they found themselves down(1-0) in the first half but Dre Williams came out in the second, putting two scores on the board including the late game winner. Battling through injuries, the Dawgs grabbed a big road win in the absence of captains Iker Casanova and Izzy Shaddick, along with many others.
Concordia has shown its depth through the past few games, staying undefeated at 11-0-2 and 5-0-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Head coach Jason Weides comments on the sluggish start and coming out after half and playing their style of soccer.
“We played a really poor first 15 minutes and a solid 75 minutes after that. Fortunately, we were only down 1-0, and credit to Jamestown because they came out flying. We settled in and started to play our style and at halftime, we talked about staying composed and not panicking. We had way more chances in the second half and guys came off the bench to create quality chances for us. I’m proud of our team in so many ways because I felt like it was a full team win. We had so much energy from the bench. Our players responded well and we did what great teams do on the road … we found a way to win.”
Down 1-0 after a bad start, the Bulldogs found their legs coming out of the halftime break. Most impressively the defense allowed zero shots in the second 45 minutes. The back line came out with the will to win the ball as Adrian Wambua, Braden Spath, Matt Schultz, Michael Lindberg anchored the box like a wall of stone to give the team a chance for a road victory. Michael Wyvill was an important piece as subs began to take place in the final minutes.
With the defense anchored down, Dre Williams was vital to the comeback win in Jamestown. In the 48th minute, Williams was close to seven yards outside of the penalty area, before striking the ball from the far side of the field, all the way to the near corner for the early post-break equalizer.
Concordia would pound in more shots with their 8-0 second half advantage but were unable to find a game winner until the 83rd minute. Feeling at home in the same spot on the field, Williams received the ball, turned inward, and smashed a low ball past the keeper for his first game winning goal of 2023.
The Bulldogs would hold on for the last seven minutes as the whole team collected a big three points to keep them second in the conference.
Concordia (11-0-2, 5-0-2) will have a midweek break before travelling to Hastings (4-6-2, 3-2-1 GPAC) next weekend. First kick is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday (Oct. 14) at Lloyd Wilson Field. The Dawgs tied the Broncos (1-1) in the regular season in 2022 but defeated them in penalty kicks for the GPAC Tournament Championship in November.