ATCHISON, Kan. – On Wednesday night (Sept. 13), Concordia tracked down their sixth consecutive win of the season against Benedictine College (Kan.), holding onto the program’s second best start since the beginning of the GPAC era. Victor Meneses rumbled his feet. Took a couple of steps and buried the penalty kick past the keeper. With this kick, the Bulldogs seized the 1-0 lead, and unknowingly it became the eventual game winner for the road victory.
Concordia climbed one more rung on the ladder, moving to 6-0 and remaining undefeated. This 2023 team is one win away from tying the best start (2019) in the GPAC era for the Bulldog men’s soccer program. Head coach Jason Weides comments on what this accomplishment could mean and the bigger goals they have moving forward.
“Really hard-fought win. The victory obviously puts us in the position we want to be in, but we want to take it one game at a time. We don’t want to get caught up in chasing records. These kinds of things are awesome to accomplish, but what is more important is that we are better in October and November. The biggest blessing for our fast start this year has been our depth and competition in practice every day.”
In a physical game that warranted 31 total team fouls, two kicks became the difference in the battle of the unbeaten. A Ravens’ defender kicked the ball back to his keeper, as a pressing Carter Hinman met the ball just before the goalie, drawing the foul inside the penalty area. Less than a minute later, Meneses put the ball between the goalkeeper and the left post in the 39th minute of the first half for his third goal of the season.
Nolan Fuelberth, out of Lincoln, Neb., was credited with the shutout (2nd of the season), only had one save on the night. Fuelberth forced Benedictine to keep restarting their offensive attacks by controlling their redundant crosses, seemingly grabbing them out of the air. Nolan, has now guarded goal for 313 minutes in his career as a Bulldog and has only conceded one goal.
With quality shots at a premium, the defense stood tall inside the box limiting the Ravens to nine chances but only one was on goal.
Head coach Weides spoke on the defense inside the box. “We defended crosses pretty well. They were effective at getting in good wide situations and crossing it into the box. Whether it was Nolan at goalkeeper, our back line or the guys in front of them, we did a good job of getting to the first ball.”
Concordia (5-0) comes home for their GPAC opener versus Mount Marty (1-2-3) in Seward, Neb. First whistle is set for 1 p.m. CT versus the Lancers on Saturday (Sept. 16). The Bulldogs have a 13-2-1 record since 2006 over the visitors. Mount Marty hasn’t won since 2010 in the series.