Alvarez notches first career goal in loss at No. 22 Hastings

HASTINGS, Neb. – GPAC favorite and 22nd-ranked Hastings got on top with an 18th-minute goal and never looked back on the way to a 3-1 victory over the Concordia University men’s soccer team on Sunday night. The contest at Lloyd Wilson Field in Hastings, Neb., was a replay of a game that had originally taken place on Sept. 29. The NAIA mandated a replay of the match due to a misapplication of substitution rules.

The loss dropped eighth-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad to 7-6-1 overall and 2-4-1 in GPAC action.

“There were a couple moments where we weren’t quite as sharp as we needed to be,” Weides said. “We didn’t handle their pressing very well and we were rushing on the attack. We could have caused them some more challenges, but we really were rushing. That forced us to defend more and we got caught a couple times.”

The lone Bulldog goal came with the Broncos possessing a commanding 3-0 lead in the 89th minute. Freshman Angel Alvarez emerged from a scramble in the box with his first career goal. What Concordia really needed was a response after finding itself in a 2-0 hole.

Instead, Hastings tacked on a back-breaking goal in the 81st minute when Daniel Whitehall scored for the second time on the night. Whitehall also assisted the Broncos’ first goal as part of a big offensive performance.

A day after making a key momentum-boosting play, Concordia senior center back Justin Lawrie again made a great defensive play in the back when he deflected a through ball that would have provided a one-on-one with the keeper in the 74th minute.

Weides had no complaints about the effort of his team in a game that brought about several challenges. Not only were the Bulldogs going up against the GPAC’s top-rated team, they had to do so without the services of first team all-conference midfielder Gideon Soenksen. In addition, Mark Campbell and Aries Fung left the game early and a 49th-minute red card forced Weides’ squad to play down a man for the remainder of the contest.

The Broncos (9-3-2, 6-0 GPAC) have been dominant in conference play, winning their first six league games by a combined total of 27-4.

The Bulldogs continue a run of three-straight GPAC run games when they travel to nearby Doane (7-4-2, 4-1-1 GPAC) for Wednesday’s 7:15 p.m. tilt in Crete. Concordia is 2-0-1 over its last three meetings with the Tigers. Last season the Bulldogs advanced to the GPAC semifinals with a 1-0 win at Doane in the quarterfinals.