SEWARD, Neb. – The newly ranked No. 25 Bulldogs wrote themselves into the Concordia record book, with the best start in program history (8-0) since the GPAC era. The Dawgs got hot early on offense scoring two unanswered versus Dordt, protecting home field with a victory (2-0) on Wednesday night (Sept. 20). The defense stepped up in the final minutes as Adrian Wambua and Nolan Fuelberth were big in shielding in the home shutout. Concordia now has five shutouts in the last six games.
Forward Jarrod Henson speaks on having the 8-0 record. “It means a lot to the boys to have the record start. A lot of these guys have been here five years or more, but it is just the start. We have a lot of confidence in the team and our squad depth is really good. Ultimately, we want to have a record that no one can break!”
CUNE keeps trucking to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Head coach Jason Weides spoke on the win versus the Defenders.
“We had a lot of the ball throughout the game, but we have to find a balance of probing versus getting chances in the box. We weren’t very clean the last 20 minutes of the half. It was a great block (by Wambua) and we need those because our defense won’t be perfect every time.”
Jarrod Henson got the starting nod from Weides for the first time in five games, and his opening minutes did not disappoint. Less than six minutes in, Henson stole the ball from a defender, running right he drew the last defender and goalie to one side of the penalty area. Henson then kicked the ball behind him to a wide open Carter Hinman for an easy one touch strike.
The Aussie didn’t stop there. Henson made the offense dangerous with multiple passes outside of the penalty area in the first half. He smashed a bending cross from the near corner of the penalty box to Victor Meneses at the far post for a header, which gave the Dawgs a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute.
Entering the second half, the two teams stayed in a stalemate until 10 minutes were left on the clock. The Defenders put on more steam pressing into the final third multiple times, for their first heart stopping shots of the night.
The back line answered the call with Fuelberth, Wambua, Iker Casanova, and Matt Schultz blocking out shots to keep breathing room in the final minutes. Fuelberth out of place in one attack, left the net wide open for a Dordt Defender to score. The attacker was denied by the long sliding block of 6’4 Wambua, finalizing the shutout win.
The Bulldogs outshot the Defenders 7-0 in the first half and 11-4 in full time. Fuelberth grabbed three much needed saves for his third shutout of the year.
Concordia (8-0, 2-0 GPAC) will travel to Orange City, Iowa for their first conference road match against Northwestern (5-3, 1-1 GPAC) on Saturday (Sept. 23). The match is set for 1 p.m. CT at NWC Soccer Complex. The Red Raiders own the series 18-15-3 but fell in 2022 to the Bulldogs (2-1).