Battle of Concordias highlights first full week of regular season

By Jacob Knabel on Aug. 28, 2017 in Men's Soccer

SEWARD, Neb. – Three games make up this week’s schedule for the Concordia University men’s soccer team, which opened up the 2017 season with a 3-2 home win over Sterling College on Aug. 26. The Bulldogs will remain at home to host rival York College on Tuesday (Aug. 29) before making their first road trip of the new campaign. Games on Friday and Saturday will take place on the campus of Concordia University, Chicago.

This week’s schedule
Tuesday, Aug. 29 vs. York College, 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 1 at Concordia-Chicago, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 2 vs. Concordia-Wisconsin, 11:45 a.m.

Tenth-year head coach Jason Weides appears to have a squad capable of extending the program’s run of six-straight seasons with 10 or more victories. In the season opener, Lewis Rathbone, Michah Lehenbauer and Toby Down – all seniors – each put a goal on the board as part of the victory. The contest also saw junior Jack Bennett take over the starting goalkeeper role. In addition four players made their collegiate debuts: Ryan LeTourneau, Joshua Lindquist, Garrett Perry and Kevin Sanchez.

After hosting York (6-10-2 in 2016), CUNE will test its fitness with games on back-to-back days in the Windy City. In a showdown between Concordias, the Bulldogs will go head-to-head with Concordia-Chicago (3-13 in 2016) on Friday and Concordia-Wisconsin (13-5 in 2016) on Saturday. Both CUC and CUW are affiliated with the Northern Athletics Conference of NCAA Division III. The Falcons of CUW were picked third in the preseason NACC poll. The Cougars of CUC were pegged for 10th in the conference poll.

All Bulldog home games can be streamed live via the Concordia Sports Network. For live coverage of this weekend’s matches in River Forest, Ill., check out CUC’s athletics website.

CUNE will have a week layoff following the journey to Chicago. The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 9 when they are scheduled to visit Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa.