SEWARD, Neb. – Coming off back-to-back wins, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer will make two in-conference trips to No. 25 Midland and Dakota Wesleyan starting on Wednesday (Oct. 15). The Bulldogs took down 2024 GPAC tournament champion Hastings (3-1) and shut out Waldorf (5-0) on Homecoming. CUNE continues to climb with a 6-7 overall slate showing and 4-2 in the GPAC.
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 15 at No. 25 Midland (10-2-2, 4-1-1 GPAC), 5 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Heedum Field (Fremont, Neb.)
Saturday, Oct. 18 at Dakota Wesleyan (6-6-1, 4-1-1 GPAC), 4 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Pepsi-Cola Soccer Complex (Mitchell, S.D.)
The Bulldogs found themselves down early from a Broncos goal in the 8th minute. Concordia’s defense locked down Hastings to two shots on goal for the rest of the match – zero in the second half. With a stone wall in the back half, Jasper Hofland notched the equalizer from Connor Robbins and Kai Olbrich scored his third goal in 2024 via Oliver Benson. The wing out of Bennington, Neb., took all hope for the comeback late in the second half putting one more on the board unassisted. With all eight shots, seven Bulldogs took chances at the opposing goal. Inigo Chavarria grabbed two saves.
Concordia kept the goals coming with its highest score of the season in five on the stat sheet. The biggest storytellers of the clean sheet matchup versus the Warriors were a 25-0 shot advantage and a 19-0 corner kick showing. Milo Hegarty broke through first on the scorecard with a nifty flick into the back of the goal. Hugo Garrote, Benson, Jasper Hofland and Kai Olbrich all found scores following the game winner, with Ryan Brown and Joe McCarroll hitting two assists apiece. The defensive third blanked Waldorf to zero shots in the full 90 minutes, giving Chavarria a shutout.
In the past three out of four contests, the offense has produced at least three goals with 12 of its 21-season total in the past four games hitting its mid-season stride. Ricards Busmeisters continues to hold the top scorer title (five) with Olbrich (four) just behind. Benson, Hofland, Garrote and Hegarty all have multiple goals scored. Eight Bulldogs notched tallies in the column and 11 have points on the year. Busmeisters (31), Garrote (23), Benson (16), McCarroll (15), Hofland (15), Hegarty (13) and Olbrich (12) each have double digit shots through the season.
In a match that brought fireworks to the fourth of July city in the opening half, the 2024 game between Midland and Concordia saw two of the best goal scorers from last year. The Warriors’ Hugo Garcia-Rosado stunned the home crowd with a bicycle kick in the 14th minute but the celebration wouldn’t last long. Now on the Creighton University Soccer roster, Martin Herrera scored from just outside the box 11 seconds later, taking a water hose to the visiting team's momentum. A goal apiece was scored, and the offensive slugfest was 2-2 by only the 27th minute. After Ryan Wokuth’s tally, the Bulldog defense settled and silenced the Warriors for the remainder of the contest. Concordia’s attack would continue as D’Andre Williams, Herrera, Ferdi Hagen and Benson would each put a ball in the back of the net in the 6-2 route. Earlier in last year’s campaign, the Bulldogs shutout the Tigers (3-0) on Oct. 5. Goalkeeper Nolan Fuelberth claimed the clean sheet and had three saves in the matchup that saw Benson, Herrera and Brown score.
Winning four out of the last five games has came in huge part from the defensive half. Concordia has only given up two goals in the past five and three clean sheets. Allowing 50 shots (18 on goal), the back line and company have been held down by Adrian Wambua, Mike Wyvill, Mattis Hollnagel, Connor Robbins and Benson. The lack of shots comes from stingy midfielders like Slade Leicht, Garrote, Jasper Hofland, Niko Nareike and Oliver Balazs and McCarroll.
Benson has come alive on the offensive end in the with scoring a goal and assist against both Hastings and Waldorf. Having totaled nine points this season, the Bennington High product has three goals and three assists. With 16 total shots, Benson has a .188 shot percentage and a .625 shot on goal percentage. The senior has seven goals and five assists in his two seasons so far.
Only one remains undefeated in the GPAC standings as Northwestern has boasted a 6-0 showing to take all 18 points. Midland and Dakota Wesleyan sit tied for second with a 4-1-1 conference showing and Concordia in fourth (4-2), with the last team in double digit points. Hastings (2-2-2), Morningside (2-2-1), Doane (1-3-2) and Dordt (1-3-2) round out the first eight. Briar Cliff (1-3-1), Mount Marty (0-3-2) and Waldorf (0-5) is the bottom of the table with four games left.
In the newest NAIA RPI, Concordia is rated 120th (0.481) in the release and a strength of schedule is at 130. The Bulldogs are unranked in the newest NAIA Arc release from Oct. 7. Midland is rated 23rd in and has a strength of slate at 63. Dakota Wesleyan is 79th and has the 71st schedule rating. Midland is fourth in the NAIA ARC and Northwestern is 14th. The Red Raiders are 75th in the RPI and Morningside 85th.
Midland
The Warriors are 10-2-2 coming into the bout with a 4-1-1 GPAC record. Midland was on a four game winning streak before Dakota Wesleyan broke the run with a 2-1 loss for MU. The Warriors had beaten Morningside (2-1), No. 11 Bellevue (2-1), Briar Cliff (3-0) and Doane (1-0). With 30 goals scored, Midland averages 2.14 on the scoreboard a game. Shooting 13.9 chances per 90 minutes, the Fremont side has a .154 shot percentage and a .508 shot on goal rate. Hugo Garcia-Rosado has continued to be one of the top leaders in the GPAC in goals scored (10) - currently in second. He is tied for third in assist (four) and has the most shots (49) in the conference. Freshman Tomas Reyes has spent the majority in the net with 1,127 minutes and 12 goals allowed. He has 50 saves on a .806 save percentage, allowing 0.96 goals per game.
Dakota Wesleyan
The Tigers are 6-6-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the GPAC. On a two-game win streak, DWU defeated Doane (4-0) and Midland (2-1) in its last two games. Dakota Wesleyan is set to face Waldorf on Wednesday. With 35 team goals put between the opposing posts, the Tigers average 2.69 goals per game and allow 1.62. They fire off 12.7 shots per game and have a .212 shot percentage (.448 SOG). There have been 20 assists for the team and Lukas Adamhuber has a team high (four). Evan Bolster has a team high seven tallies in goal and is fourth in the conference. Keeper Zackary Stephens has played in 12 of the 13 games and allowed 19 goals with a .548 save percentage (23 saves). He has three complete clean sheets.
Next Week
Concordia stays in the Dawg house for the final week hosting Dordt and Doane. The Bulldogs will play in Seward, Neb., looking to take hold of home field advantage.
Wednesday, Oct. 25
1 p.m. – vs Dordt
Saturday, Oct. 29
5:30 p.m. – vs Doane