OSKALOOSA, Iowa – The Bulldogs had a tall task to steal one on the road against top-five ranked William Penn University (Iowa) on Saturday night (Sept. 5). Concordia University, Nebraska held on to the home side until midway through the second half, but the No. 4 Statesmen put two in the back of the net to secure the final (2-0).
Head Coach Bernie Ochoa and his squad are 1-3 through the first four games of the 2026 season.
“The boys overall played well,” Coach Ochoa said. “Our biggest thing this year is going to be playing a full 90-minute game. We’ve talked about self-inflicted wounds and making mistakes that are costing us games. Unfortunately, that happened today. They stuck to the game plan, did a really great job and were effective on both sides of the ball. We just missed some opportunities where they were able to capitalize on our mistakes.”
The two teams ended the opening half without surrendering a score, but both teams turned up the heat on the offensive end in the second. In the 53rd minute, William Penn broke through via Javier Perez besting the final Bulldog defender and keeper. The Statesmen’s Gonzalo Rawinad added an insurance score to try and bury the visitors.
Concordia responded with a slight advantage on shots (10-9) in the second but lacked the bounce on the final touch. The Bulldogs had chance that hit the post that would have been a sure score and kicked a late penalty that went just wide. The fight was there, but the ball lacked the necessary precision between the posts.
Coach Ochoa continued, “I felt at the end of the day our guys did a good job. The physicality of these games is very high. They’re very intense games with a lot at stake, and I thought our guys battled all the way to the end.”
The consistent rough play led to 10 total yellow cards with seven coming from William Penn.
Lucas Montino paced the Bulldogs in shots taken with three of the 13 total fires. Joe McCarroll, Connor Robbins, Hollnagel, Elijah Fulton, Karlo Rodriguez, Sebastian Montino, Hugo Garrote, William Preston and Kade Olbrich kicked one shot apiece.
Michael Wyvill, Sean Stratman and Lucas combined to keep the powerhouse Statesmen at bay for the majority of the match in the final third. Goalkeeper Florian Quast punched out five saves in the net.
William Penn (2-0-1) was led in its 19 shots were pooched by Rawinad (three), Perez (two), Rob Stoop (two), Angel Valdez (two), and Juan Naranjo (two). The Statesmen fired eight shots on goal but tacked on 16 fouls to the Bulldogs’ seven.
Concordia (1-3) will have a short recovery time before taking on the defending national champions on Labor Day (Sept. 7). The Bulldogs will be on the pitch at 1 p.m. CT against No. 17 Grand View University (0-2-1) in Des Moines, Iowa.