Amaya’s multi-goal effort spurs win at Morningside

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Concordia University men’s soccer team stormed out of the halftime intermission with a pair of quick goals to take command of host Morningside on Saturday night. The Bulldogs added another tally for good measure to pull away with a 3-0 win over the Mustangs.

Eighth-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad earned its first GPAC win and now sits at 6-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in GPAC play.

“It was a solid all-around performance,” Weides said. “I thought Morningside started the game strong. They were controlling possession and creating chances. Our guys improved as the game went on. It was a pretty even first half and then we came out in the second half and responded well. We had a totally different mentality. We had very few lapses.”

The Bulldogs got a big offensive night from junior midfielder Julian Amaya, who relieved the team’s recent goal-scoring struggles by finding the back of the net in the 52nd and 61st minutes for his fourth and fifth goals on the year. All three goals were recorded in less than a 10-minute span. Sophomore Lewis Rathbone got into the act with a 54th-minute score that came fewer than two minutes after Amaya’s first goal.

Amaya, a native of Bogota, Columbia, has been a consistent performer all year long. He has four assists to go with his five goals.

“Julian has had a good year,” Weides said. “We were getting him in good positions to score tonight. Even when he hasn’t been scoring, he’s been able to give other people opportunities. He’s playing really sharp.”

Up against a rebuilt Morningside squad, Concordia dominated the statistics, outshooting the Mustangs, 16-7. Morningside placed just a single shot on frame as the Bulldog back line kept goalkeeper Mark Horsburgh clean. Horsburgh received credit for his fifth shutout of the campaign. He was the beneficiary of the pressure his teammates put on the ball.

Two different keepers split the 90 minutes evenly for the Mustangs. Tim Edrmann was tagged with all three goals in the second half. He and Carter Donahue made a combined total of four saves.

Morningside (6-4-1, 1-2-1 GPAC) has identical overall and GPAC marks as compared to Concordia. The Mustangs’ lone conference win was a 5-0 result against Mount Marty.

The Bulldogs will be back home next week for two GPAC tilts. On Wednesday they will host Nebraska Wesleyan (7-4, 1-3 GPAC) in a game slated to begin at 8 p.m. from Bulldog Stadium.