SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University men’s soccer team will have had 10 days without a game by the time kickoff rolls around at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday (Sept. 7). At that time, the Bulldogs will go head-to-head with a perennially strong fellow NAIA program in MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.).
Saturday’s game will be streamed live via the Concordia Sports Network. Live statistics will also be available through the same link. Frank Greene will call the play-by-play.
Head coach Jason Weides’ squad last played Aug. 27 when it toppled York College, 3-0. That victory came three days after Concordia opened the season with a 2-0 win at Oklahoma City University. The goalkeeper behind those shutouts has been freshman Eduardo Alba, who made eight saves versus York and was named the GPAC Defensive Player of the Week. Alba and a rebuilt back line, featuring Decker Mattimoe and Evan Hayden as center backs, have been a strength in the early going.
The Bulldogs have also found offensive firepower from a variety of sources. Five different players are responsible for putting away the team’s first five goals of 2019. In order, those goal scorers have been Renzo Bozzo, Moises Jacobo, Roger de la Villa, Isaiah Shaddick and Miguel Munoz. De la Villa topped the 2018 squad with eight goals while Shaddick, a freshman and product of Lincoln Southwest High School, has the ability to add many more goals to his total of the next four years.
Weides is warning his team not to let this week’s glaring result fool it. MidAmerica Nazarene (2-2) dropped an 8-0 decision at the hands of Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Monday. However, the Pioneers took GPAC power Hastings to double overtime before falling 1-0 in their season opener on Aug. 24. In addition, MidAmerica Nazarene has played in the NAIA national championship game as recently as 2015. On the current team, Felipe Hideki leads the Pioneers with four goals on the season. MidAmerica Nazarene had outscored its opponents by a combined tally of 9-1 prior to the clash with Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Nonconference play will continue next Wednesday (Sept. 11) with a trip to McPherson College, located in McPherson, Kan. Three days later, Concordia will open up the GPAC schedule by playing at Presentation College in Aberdeen, S.D.