SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University men’s soccer team breezed to a victory in its season finale on Saturday (Nov. 21). The Bulldogs dispatched last place Presentation by the score of 5-1.
Concordia got started early as sophomore forward Victor Meneses found the back of the net off a pass from Moises Jacobo in the second minute of play to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. After Meneses’ goal the Bulldogs went cold offensively as good looks were a rarity over the next 40 minutes.
“It was nice to get a goal in the first five minutes, and it dictated the game in a lot of ways,” head coach Jason Weides stated. “We could not seem to get a second goal for the longest time. We were doing good things we just couldn’t create opportunities for shots.”
Concordia broke its forty-minute scoring drought when freshman Iker Casanova scored on a pass from Yessine Bessaies right before the break to make it 2-0 Concordia.
One major mistake that hurt the Bulldogs was a handball in the box, which set up a penalty kick for Presentation. The Saint’s Parker Carlson converted on the penalty kick to make it a 2-1 game. After that, it was all Bulldogs as junior Carlos Orquiz netted a goal in the 66th minute. Sophomore Isiah Shaddick added two late goals in the 73rd and 81st minutes, respectively, to give the Bulldogs their fourth and fifth goals of the contest. Garrett Perry and Bessaises were credited with the assists on Shaddicks goals.
Concordia outshot Presentation 16-8 overall and 10-4 on goal. The Bulldogs were also able to generate offensive opportunities off of corner kicks and held a 5-0 advantage over the Saints. Junior Goalkeeper Callum Goldsmith made his second start of the season and first since the season opener back on Sept. 9. Goldsmith made three saves and allowed one goal in the outing.
Everybody who suited up appeared in the game for Concordia as Weides was able to get all 20 of his Bulldogs playing time in the match.
The Concordia squad finished the regular season with an overall record of 9-3-2 and finished the GPAC standings in fifth place with a conference record of 7-2-2.
The Bulldogs just missed out on hosting a GPAC tournament game in the spring. A Northwestern loss would have given the Bulldogs a fourth-place finish and a home game in the conference quarterfinals however, the Red Raider’s secured a fourth-place finish with a 2-1 win over Jamestown.
“I certainly think we have shown we can compete with some of the top teams in the league,” Weides reiterated. “It is still disappointing because we can beat the top teams, but unfortunately, we made one too many stumbles. We had a really tight league and every point in the standings matters. If you drop a point or two, it can make all the difference in the world. There were maybe two games this year on conference play where we did not play well, and then we had a frustrating draw. Those little moments make all of the difference. There is a lot of positives to take away. We will have to do a lot of hard work in the GPAC tournament to get a spot in nationals.”
Today’s match concludes the fall portion of the schedule for Concordia. The Bulldogs will be back on the field in the spring of 2021 as they compete in the GPAC postseason tournament. The tournament was postponed to the spring due to COVID 19 complications. The dates for the GPAC tournament have yet to be determined.