SEWARD, Neb. – A pair of Bulldogs represented the Concordia University men’s soccer team on the 2018 NAIA All-Plains Region Team, as selected by the United Soccer Coaches. Second team all-region accolades went to senior goalkeeper Jack Bennett and junior midfielder Roger de la Villa. Head coach Jason Weides’ program also put three players on the all-region second team in 2017.
Bennett, who hails from Oxford, England, earned second team all-conference in back-to-back years (2017 and 2018). He received such accolades this past fall despite missing eight games due to injury. In the 11 starts he made, Bennett produced 47 saves, a goals against average of 1.561 and a save percentage of .723. In his career, Bennett earned 20 wins and seven shutouts. The highlight of his senior campaign was a save that clinched the penalty kick shootout over Midland in the GPAC quarterfinals.
A transfer from Marshalltown Community College (Iowa), de la Villa provided a dependable goal scoring option this fall. He topped the team with eight goals and also added a pair of assists. De la Villa supplied the golden goal in overtime wins over both Dakota Wesleyan and Briar Cliff. The native of Barcelona, Spain, notched two goals in the victory over Briar Cliff. De la Villa played in all 19 games this season, starting 18. He was named the GPAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16.
Concordia concluded the 2018 season with a 10-5-4 overall record, placed fourth in the GPAC regular-season standings and reached the conference tournament semifinals.