SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Joe McCarroll led the charge early in the 2-0 shutout of Dordt on Wednesday (Sept. 19) at the Dordt Soccer Complex. The Bulldogs moved as a unit collectively frustrating the Defenders with the press to earn their first league win in the GPAC opener. Florian Quast became a lock for 90 minutes to claim a clean sheet.
Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer has climbed to a 3-4 overall record with two consecutive results and a 1-0 start in conference play.
“It was definitely a hard-fought game from the get-go,” Head Coach Bernie Ochoa said. “They’re a great team, have definitely improved drastically, and they played us really well. They came out strong; we came out strong. The biggest thing for us was we had a strong start. We scored early and we were able to kind of control the tempo of the game. It was something throughout the week we told the boys that we needed to improve on, and that was a big key for us early on. As the game went on, we were able to kind of control it. Everyone kind of stepped in and fulfilled their role. Overall, a team win.”
With only one shot taken between both teams in first over 11 minutes of the contest, team effort was shown to be needed to break through. Enter Danilo Nikolic who blasted a pass down the near sideline to a streaking Kai Olbrich. The striker laced a cross to the outstretched leg of McCarroll as the midfielder reached his left foot out to drive the score in to the far post. The Prestwick, Scotland, native marked the first goal of his career on the scoreboard with the finishing flick.
Early in the latter stanza, the Defenders earned a red card playing a man down. In the 64th minute, a Dordt midfielder shanked a pass which Sebastian Montino took with ease. The Chilean made no hesitation as he chipped the one touch finish into the back of the net with the opposing keeper caught off guard and far off his line. After the tally, Montino scored his second goal in two games.
Ochoa continued, “It was a ball where we pressed them really well defensively into a loose ball, and then he hit it first time. He knew where he was going with it, and it was definitely a great finish.”
The Bulldogs didn’t come off completely clean as they gave up 11 shots (six on goal). Goalkeeper Quast punched out six saves and a shutout. His second of the season.
“He had a great game. He had some crucial saves for sure. Came off his line quite a bit in the box. They played very direct and played a lot of balls into the box. He stepped out and did really well. So, he was definitely a big plus.”
Concordia had a high shot percentage (.400) with the other three kicks coming from Hugo Garrote, Kai Olbrich and Jasper Hofland.
Dordt (4-3-1, 0-1 GPAC) relied on big shots from Pablo Martin and Julian Janssen. The Defenders collected five yellow cards and two reds by the end of the match.
The Bulldogs (3-4, 1-0 GPAC) will stay in-state on their next road trip facing Doane (1-3-2, 0-1 GPAC) in Crete, Neb. Concordia will take the field at 7:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday (Sept. 23). The Seward side defeated the Tigers, 3-2, in 2025.