CRETE, Neb. – In the waning moments, two freshmen found lightning in a bottle for the Bulldogs to roar back and defeat Doane (2-1) in the final minutes on Wednesday (Sept. 23). The two strikes came via Elijah Fulton and William Preston after going down late in the rivalry bout on Papik Field. CUNE has now defeated the Crete side five consecutive times since 2022.
First year Head Coach Bernie Ochoa has led his squad to three straight wins to break even (4-4) and remains unbeaten in GPAC play (2-0).
“Overall, what happened at the end was we gave other guys an opportunity to step in,” Coach Ochoa said. “That's what it's been all year as well, with an 18- or 19-man rotation. Those guys came in over the last 10 minutes, turned things around and scored two goals. We've focused a lot on understanding that we've got to play 90 minutes. Whether it's a fast start, a slow start or something that wakes us up, unfortunately, that's what happened today again. The boys responded. It's been very inconsistent as far as our play, our mentality and how we go about each and every game. But the effort is always there, and that's the important part.”
A shot to the heart was the Tiger go-ahead score with 13:24 remaining until full time as the home team sprinted out after what seemed to be the statement touch.
Immediately after, substitutions were forced into the lineup as the Bulldogs could no longer sit back. The adrenaline surge of new blood that included the likes of Preston, Joao Pedro Moreira and Kondwani Mtawali.
Only a few minutes later, Michael Wyvill took a header shot as the Doane keeper Gabriel Lara forced a rebound which Fulton lashed it into the back of the net to tie the in-state clash. The Gretna, Neb., native has come on in the four contests and his second shot of the season found pay dirt. Fulton’s equalizer was the first of his career.
With the Concordia offense already cooking, the shot in the arm bench talent came through once again. The attack continued to be funneled through Moreira down the far side giving the Bulldogs chances down the stretch.
In the 86th minute, Milo Hegarty fired a shot but the goalie’s dive made a save once again. With the Doane protector of the net still on the grass, Preston launched the game winner celebrating with arms wide as the Bulldog bench exploded with jubilation. Another Gretna, Neb., native, Preston scored his second goal of the season.
The pinstriped blue has 11 goals from nine different Concordia players.
Coach Ochoa continued, “We don't have that one prolific goal scorer, so it's about giving guys minutes and rotating them in. Whoever is playing best is going to get those minutes, and hopefully they can continue scoring goals. We've been able to rotate guys in and out, and they've stepped up at the right moments. It happened tonight again.”
Bulldog keeper Florian Quast finished with five saves giving up the lone goal. Both teams finished with six shots on goal as Concordia owned much of the possession and took four corners to the Tigers’ one.
Doane’s Cohen Hubbard scored the go-ahead in the second half having a game high three shots taken. Lara picked up four saves in the 90 minutes.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 2-0 GPAC) will be back in Seward to host Morningside (3-3-3, 2-0) on Saturday night. Concordia will be inside Bulldog Stadium at 8 p.m. CT. CUNE defeated Morningside in the GPAC tournament championship game (2-1) in the last meeting.