SEWARD, Neb. – It’s been more than a month since the Concordia University Men’s Soccer team has tasted a defeat. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-0 week within league play and now look to finish regular season play strong as they host Doane on Wednesday. Prior to kickoff, Concordia will honor its senior class. Head Coach Jason Weides’ squad (12-2-2, 7-1-2 GPAC) hopes to lock up the league’s No. 2 seed and give it a chance at hosting in at least the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed as long as they stay in front of Dordt (6-0-4 GPAC).
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 26 vs. Doane (2-12-2, 2-5-2 GPAC), 8 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, Oct. 29 – Bye
By the numbers
· The eight-game unbeaten streak followed the 4-3 loss at Dordt on Sept. 21. Since then, Concordia has gone 6-0-2 with wins over Northwestern, Midland, Dakota Wesleyan, Jamestown, Briar Cliff and Presentation and draws with Morningside and Hastings. During that stretch, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 30-7 and have recorded three shutouts. The unbeaten streak is the longest for the program since the 2018 team also strung together eight games without a loss (5-0-3). That eight-game run featured nine overtime periods and a shootout advancement past Midland in the GPAC quarterfinals.
· In terms of sheer overall wins, this has already been one of the top seasons in the history of the program. With 12 victories, the 2022 Bulldogs have equaled the 2000 squad for the second most wins in a single season in school history. The program record holder in that category remains the 2017 team that went 16-3-1 overall and is arguably the best Concordia Men’s Soccer team ever. The current team could put itself in that conversation with a deep postseason run. Weides guided his 2015, 2016 and 2017 teams to the GPAC tournament final and celebrated a conference tournament championship in 2015.
· The home meeting last week with Briar Cliff appeared to be headed towards a draw as the game was locked in a 0-0 stalemate for more than 80 minutes of action. At last, in the 83rd minute, Victor Meneses surfaced with his first goal of the season after he finished a well-executed volley into the box by Isaiah Shaddick. It was a feel-good story as Meneses had not played since late September and had missed the entire 2021 season due to injury. The 1-0 win was a fair result considering Concordia’s commanding advantage in shots, 20-8. The Chargers (4-7-5, 2-3-4 GPAC) have struggled this season after sharing the GPAC regular season title in 2021.
· The Bulldogs simply took care of business in their journey north to Aberdeen, S.D. Dominic Abdel-Ahad opened the floodgates with the game’s first goal in the 14th minute. The onslaught was on as Shaddick went for a hat trick, Ryan Wokutch knocked in two goals and one goal apiece was notched by Abdel-Ahad, Iker Casanova, Carlos Orquiz and Meneses. It had just been a matter of time for Shaddick, who had not found the back of the net in 2022 – until this past Saturday. The Lincoln Southwest High School alum has tallied 17 goals in his collegiate career. The nine goals as a team were the most for the program in one game since also defeating Presentation 9-0 in September 2019.
· The 10 goals scored last week helped beef up the team’s season statistics. Through 16 games, Concordia has outscored its opponents, 44-15, and has outshot them, 221-124. Abdel-Ahad tops the team with 10 goals and is the first Bulldog to reach double figures in goals in a season since three players did so in 2017: Micah Lehenbauer (12), Lewis Rathbone (12) and Marcelo Hernandez (11). Next in line after Abdel-Ahad on the current team for goals are Wokutch (six) and Orquiz (five). In addition, the two clean sheets last week ran the team’s season shutout total to seven. At keeper, Gabriel Mendoza played all 90 minutes versus Briar Cliff while Callum Goldsmith went all 90 at Presentation.
The opponent
Doane could use some points this week as it currently sits tied for eighth place in the GPAC at 2-5-2. The Tigers will be also be at Northwestern on Saturday. Doane began this season at 0-8 but has recovered to some degree and has been more competitive within the league. The Tigers own GPAC wins over Presentation and Jamestown and have tied with Briar Cliff and Morningside. Head Coach Tony Odorisio’s squad has scored 15 goals and allowed 44 on the season. Nine Doane players have posted at least one goal. The Bulldogs and Tigers played to a 1-1 draw in pouring rain in Crete last season.
Next week
The GPAC tournament will get underway with the quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 3. The semifinals will follow on Nov. 8 with the championship game slated for Nov. 11.