SEWARD, Neb. – Two weeks of preseason practice are in the books for the Concordia University men’s soccer program, now ready to open up a 17-game regular-season slate. Wednesday’s scrimmage with former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan served as a tune up for Saturday’s first real thing. Head coach Jason Weides will lead his team into action against visiting Tabor College (Kan.). Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. CT from Bulldog Stadium.
All Concordia men’s soccer varsity regular-season games will be streamed live via the Concordia Sports Network. New this season to the webcasts will be enhanced high definition picture.
Weides is set to begin his 11th season as head coach. No matter the names on the roster, Weides has built a remarkably consistent program that has won at least 10 games in seven-straight seasons. The Bulldogs are coming off perhaps their finest season ever. The 2017 campaign saw them break a school record with 16 victories on their way to a third-consecutive GPAC championship game appearance. As a result of that recent success, Concordia was picked second in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll.
While a large percentage of last season’s goals were produced by seniors who have graduated, fans of the Bulldogs will recognize several names such as Jack Bennett and Carlos Ferrer. Both standouts seem primed for even better seasons than their all-conference 2017 efforts. Saturday will be the first chance for this year’s team to prove it has answers for its goal scoring question marks. It will also provide an opportunity to showcase the Concordia debuts of potentially impactful newcomers in Jack Arra, Roger de la Villa, Carlos Orquiz and Konrad Sinu.
Affiliated with the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Tabor finished 8-9-1 overall last season. The Bluejays were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 34-22. The program also possesses a veteran head coach in Grant Brubacher, who is in his 12th season at Tabor. The Bluejays were pegged by league coaches to finish eighth out of 13 teams in the KCAC.
The Bulldogs will be in action twice next week. They travel to nearby York College on Aug. 28 (3:30 p.m.) before welcoming Bellevue to Seward on Saturday, Sept. 1 (3 p.m.).