SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s soccer team will have to be at its best this week while up against programs it has jockeyed with in recent years for positioning at the top of the GPAC standings. This will be a more typical two-game week within conference play as head coach Chris Luther’s squad gets ready to host No. 25 Midland on Wednesday before traveling to take on No. 14 Hastings on Saturday night. Both opponents have suffered a conference loss to Briar Cliff.
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 9 vs. (25) Midland (6-2-1, 3-1 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
-Live Webcast/Stats
Saturday, Oct. 12 at (14) Hastings (8-2, 4-1 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
-Live Webcast/Stats
The Bulldogs (3-6-1, 3-0-1 GPAC) enter the week unbeaten in conference play and a hair short of being a spotless 4-0 (drew at Dordt, 2-2). Concordia is well rested having played only four games since Sept. 11. After a week between outings, the Bulldogs dominated Mount Marty (31-0 in shots) in what amounted to a 3-0 home win on Oct. 5. Over its past 31 GPAC regular-season games, Concordia owns a record of 25-1-5 with the only defeat coming at the hands of Briar Cliff last season. This fall, the Bulldogs have also beaten Presentation and Northwestern.
Each of Concordia’s 10 goals this season have come over the last five games. Luther is still looking for greater proficiency on the attack after struggling to finish chances in the first half versus Mount Marty. No single Bulldog has more than two goals on the year. In the victory over the Lancers, Tori Cera, Grace Soenksen and Brynn Suddeth each notched their first goals of the season. In terms of shots, freshman Jaiden Beecher has been the most active this season with 17 shots this year. On the flip side, Concordia has shut out three of its first four GPAC opponents.
Midland brought back a boatload of talent from a 2018 squad that reached the NAIA national quarterfinals. However, a look at recent history reveals that the Bulldogs have had the Warriors’ number. Concordia is 6-1-1 versus Midland since the start of the 2013 season. One of those six victories occurred in last season’s GPAC semifinals in Fremont. This year’s squad coached by Greg Jarosik has plenty of firepower with Nayeli Rodriguez (eight) and Elena Perez (seven) combining for 15 of the team’s 27 goals. Meanwhile, Warrior opponents have managed only six goals this season.
Hastings has been in a similar situation as Concordia in that it went through an offseason coaching change. The Broncos have remained nationally relevant with their most significant win being a 1-0 triumph over then fifth-ranked Benedictine College. The series between Hastings and Concordia was one-sided until previous Bulldog head coach Greg Henson stepped in. Officially, the two sides are 3-3-3 against each other over the past nine meetings (with three PK shootouts involved). First-year head coach Alex Piekarski’s squad has outscored its foes by a combined total of 39-7.
In action next week, Concordia will host Morningside on Wednesday, Oct. 16 before playing at Briar Cliff on Saturday, Oct. 19.