SEWARD, Neb. – Visiting Mount Marty held the leaks from springing for the first 60 minutes before the dam exploded. Three Bulldogs registered in the goal scoring column as Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer emerged with a comfortable 3-0 victory inside Bulldog Stadium on Wednesday (Oct. 1). The Bulldogs equaled a season high in goals while earning their second consecutive shutout home win.
Head Coach Jason Weides’ squad bumped its overall mark to 4-6 (2-1 GPAC). As a program, Concordia has dropped only one conference regular season game since the middle of the 2022 season.
“You get back-to-back shutouts – that’s what you need,” Weides said. “That’s how you grow. We conceded and bled too many goals over the first nine games. Ultimately, if you want to be champions, you can’t bleed goals and you can’t make mistakes as often as we had. It’s really good to see two clean sheets in a row. We had a lot of subs in today too. I’m really pleased to see the guys keep a clean sheet with so many changes. We didn’t give them many good opportunities.”
In their latest GPAC outing, the Bulldogs dominated possession and ruled the stat sheet. At long last, in the 63rd minute, Concordia cracked the ice when midfielder Slade Leicht pushed the ball forward to Hugo Garrote, who then found Ricards Busmeisters for a 1v1 opportunity with the keeper. The Riga, Latvia, native chipped the ball into the back of the net for his fourth goal this season.
Over the next eight minutes, the Bulldogs put this one to bed as freshmen Milo Hegarty (69’) and Conner Robbins (70’) got on the board with the first goals of their careers. Assists were credited to Leicht on goal No. 2 and to Garrote and Kail Olbrich on goal No. 3. Suddenly, the scoreline more accurately reflected Concordia’s superiority. The Bulldogs finished with advantages of 22-6 in shots and 9-2 in corner kicks.
The second half breakout helped alleviate some of the early frustration. Two minutes after kickoff, Olbrich hit the left post. Two minutes later, a prime chance for Olbrich went over goal. Those near misses were a harbinger of things to come as close calls were the theme of the first half. In making his first career start, Lancer keeper Esteban Gomez made a sprawling save to his left on a Garrote free kick late in the first half. Gomez gave Mount Marty a fighting chance with his seven saves.
On the opposite end, an impressive save by Inigo Chavarria on a free kick at the 73-minute mark preserved the shutout. It was the only shot the Lancers (2-3-2, 0-2-2 GPAC) put on frame all evening. The ball spent most of the evening on Concordia’s attacking half.
Said the Millard North High School product Robbins following the win, “Everyone believes in each other. We have each other’s back. It feels pretty good to score my first goal, but I’m just as happy when anyone scores a goal.”
Added Weides of his team’s second half attacking, “We’ve expected that the whole season. We have the capability for that, both with guys who start and guys who come on and make an impact. We’re in that spot where everybody wants ownership of their roles and responsibilities. Part of the role of a striker or attacking mid is to score goals. They have a lot more responsibility than that. I think we want it so bad that we’re getting a little tense in those moments. When we can get those guys they’re first goals, now I think we’re going to see them at ease.”
Noteworthy, the Bulldogs played without All-GPAC defender Sean Stratman and forward Oliver Benson. Concordia’s depth helped pick up the slack. Weides used 21 players in the win.
The second road trip of the GPAC regular season is coming up on Saturday when the Bulldogs will be headed to Sioux City, Iowa, for an evening clash with Morningside (3-6, 1-2 GPAC). Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT. Concordia drew, 1-1, last season with the Mustangs, who went on to win the 2024 GPAC regular season title.