SEWARD, Neb. – After playing four of its last five games at Bulldog Stadium, the Concordia University men’s soccer team will be logging plenty of miles on the road this week. Up first is Tuesday’s journey to Archery Fields in Yankton, S.D., for a clash at Mount Marty. Eleventh-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad will then have an overnight stay on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s contest at Jamestown, a new member of the GPAC.
This week
Tuesday, Oct. 16 at Mount Marty (2-6-2, 0-4-2), 3:15 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 20 at Jamestown (5-7-1, 4-4), 3:30 p.m.
It should be noted that the 3:15 p.m. kickoff time at Mount Marty is an adjustment from the originally scheduled 5:30 start. Check Mount Marty’s Stretch Internet portal for a live stream. Jamestown will also have a live webcast on Saturday via its Stretch Internet site.
The Bulldogs (7-4-2, 3-2-2 GPAC) had hoped to secure six points in the GPAC standings in last week’s action. Instead, Concordia settled for a 2-2 double overtime draw at Doane and then escaped its home matchup versus Dakota Wesleyan with a 2-1 overtime victory. Weides’ squad is now 2-0-2 this season in overtime contests with both victories coming at home. The series against Doane has been incredibly competitive since Weides became head coach in 2008. During that timeframe, the Bulldogs are 4-4-2 versus Doane with seven of the 12 games going to overtime (13 total overtime periods).
Junior Roger de la Villa produced the golden goal in the 93rd minute to sink Dakota Wesleyan. The goal pulled de la Villa even with Konrad Sinu for a team high with six goals apiece on the season. Not far behind are Jack Arra (five) and David Carrasco (five). Junior Carlos Ferrer has also been a significant offensive contributor having been credited with a team high seven assists. Ferrer was instrumental in leading the Bulldogs back from a 2-0 deficit at Doane. Concordia has surrendered the first goal of the game in five of its first seven conference matches.
Mount Marty is certainly improved over last season when it went 0-9 in GPAC play and conceded 70 goals over its 15 games. The Lancers have managed to hold their first 10 opponents this season to a combined 27 goals, though they continue to hunt for their first GPAC win. Talles Ribeiro has tallied seven of Mount Marty’s 14 goals in 2018. New to this GPAC this season, Jamestown owns conference wins over Dordt, Midland, Dakota Wesleyan and Doane. In their four GPAC defeats, the Jimmies have been shut out in each instance. They have been outscored by their opponents, 30-18, over their first 13 games.
The Bulldogs will polish off the regular season next week by playing at Midland on Oct. 24 and by hosting Briar Cliff on Oct. 27. The final game will be senior day for the program.