SEWARD, Neb. – The defending men’s soccer GPAC Champions have announced its 2016 schedule. The season will get underway on Aug. 31 against York College on the Bulldogs’ home turf. Concordia received votes in the post-season NAIA Coaches’ Poll last season.
Head coach Jason Weides said, “The 2016 schedule should be a challenging schedule. We play several teams in non-conference play that are either in or around the top-25 in the nation, or teams that qualified for nationals. Teams like Lyon, Georgia Gwinnett, Bellevue and Graceland are a few of our very difficult opening games that will be a great litmus test. Our non-conference games as a whole will well prepare us for the GPAC schedule.”
In the post-season NAIA Coaches’ Poll, three of Concordia’s opponents are ranked in the top-25. Concordia will face No. 23 Lyon College and Georgia Gwinnett College in the Hastings Tourney on Sept. 9-10. Seventeenth-ranked Bellevue University will host Concordia on Oct. 5.
In other non-conference tilts, the Bulldogs will face York College after defeating the Panthers 7-2 last year. Former GPAC member, Nebraska Wesleyan, will host Concordia in a non-conference match on Sept. 19.
Concordia will take on No. 25 Hastings College early in the GPAC schedule on Sept. 28. The Bulldogs will play on the Broncos’ home field in a GPAC Championship rematch. The league tournament will begin on Nov. 3 with the championship match taking place on Nov. 11.
“The conference continues to improve each year,” Weides said. “We anticipate 2016 to be even more challenging than last year. The GPAC league play will be a grind and our best will be needed in each game for us to achieve our goals. Qualifying for nationals again is certainly our aim, but that task will be very challenging. Our guys are looking forward to that challenge.”
The Concordia men’s soccer team returns one All-GPAC selection, Lewis Rathbone who was selected to the second team. Rathbone, along with keeper mark Horsburgh were selected to the Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA Men’s Soccer Team. Freshman Tyler Jensen received honorable mention honors form the Omaha World Herald.