SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University men’s soccer team will run through both Sioux City GPAC schools as part of another critical week of conference action. The Bulldogs will host Morningside on Wednesday and then travel to Briar Cliff on Saturday. Head coach Jason Weides’ squad was unable to put a win on the board last week, but it remains in the hunt near the top of the league standings.
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 16 vs. Morningside (10-2, 4-1 GPAC), 8 p.m.
-Live Webcast/Stats
Saturday, Oct. 19 at Briar Cliff (7-4-1, 5-1 GPAC), 3:30 p.m.
-Live Webcast | Live Stats
Concordia (9-2-1, 4-1-1 GPAC) has put up 13 points towards the league standings, tied with Midland for third place. Dating back to last season, the Bulldogs had gone 12-straight GPAC regular-season games without suffering a defeat. That run ended with this past weekend’s 3-0 loss at No. 5 Hastings. Earlier in the week, Concordia settled for a 1-1 double overtime draw with Midland. The Bulldogs were unable to hold a 1-0 lead provided by a memorable strike from junior Garrett Perry. Concordia is 3-0-2 over its past five meetings with the Warriors. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have not beaten Hastings since the 2015 GPAC tournament championship game.
The three goals scored by Hastings were a season high for Concordia opponents. The Bulldogs had not allowed that many goals in a game since their 3-0 loss to the Broncos in last season’s GPAC semifinals. Concordia has conceded either one or no goals in nine of its first 12 games of 2019. Even with last week’s result, the Bulldogs still rank No. 2 among GPAC squads in terms of fewest goals allowed per game (0.92). With the help of leading goal scorer Moises Jacobo (six goals), Concordia has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 34-11 this fall.
Morningside edged the Bulldogs, 2-1, last season in Sioux City and will make for a significant challenge on Wednesday. The Mustangs had been receiving votes prior to suffering a 6-1 loss to Midland on Oct. 2. They have since recovered with wins over Northwestern and Presentation. Concordia will have to be aware of striker Okan Goelge, who has knocked in 13 goals already this season. Morningside has outscored its foes, 40-13, in 2019.
The Bulldogs managed to defeat Briar Cliff, 2-1, in double overtime a year ago. The Chargers bring a four-game win streak into this week. Their only GPAC loss came by a 1-0 decision at Hastings on Sept. 28. Briar Cliff has a prolific goal scorer of its own in Marcus Horwood (10 goals). It owns a positive goal different of 18 (32 goals scored, 14 goals allowed).
After this week’s action, Concordia will have only three regular-season games remaining on the slate. Next week the Bulldogs will have a mid-week bye before welcoming Jamestown to Seward on Oct. 26.