SEWARD, Neb. – The deadly attack of No. 22 ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer erupted in an 8-0 smashing Doane on Saturday night (Oct. 31) in the GPAC quarterfinals. The Bulldogs unleashed a six-goal second half to frighten the visiting Tigers inside the Seward Dawg cage. With 59 goals this season, Concordia has established a new program single-season scoring record.
Head Coach Bernie Ochoa’s squad continued its scorching run of form, improving to 13-4 overall.
Said Ochoa, “Our team has been about the next-man-up mentality all year long. We call those guys our game changers, and they've made a big difference in every game, whether they're on the field or not. We discussed how difficult first-round games can be, so we understood that we needed to be patient, stick to the game plan and take it one play at a time. You can't score 10 goals at once. You have to score the first one.”
The Tigers held firm through the opening 25 minutes before Garrote broke the scoreless deadlock. The Spaniard found the back of the net in the 26th minute, putting Concordia in the driver's seat. With halftime approaching, Milo Hegarty connected with Garrote for his second tally (38th minute) of the evening and seventh of the season.
“The first goal is always the hardest one to score,” Garrote said. “Once we scored, the game opened up. I think it was really good for the team to score early, set the standard and dominate the other team from the beginning.”
The Garrote goals were like a match held to fireworks and light show came from more than Bulldog Stadium. Elijah Fulton needed just over five minutes to stretch the advantage to three, cashing in on a feed from Michael Wyvill with a finishing header. The offensive onslaught continued when Karlo Rodriguez set up Hegarty for his third goal of the campaign.
Concordia's reserves picked up where the starters left off. Jasper Hofland added to the Tigers' misery in the 73rd minute, converting a pass from Kenix Leyva. Six minutes later, Hofland turned provider, dishing to Kade Olbrich for his first of two goals.
The Bulldogs delivered a final flurry in the closing five minutes. Victor Tavares stepped to the penalty spot and buried his first goal of the season late in the contest. Just 33 seconds later, Tavares connected with Kade, who completed his brace and put the finishing touches on the eight-goal outburst.
The scoring explosion pushed Concordia's season total to 59, surpassing a program standard that had stood for nearly five decades. The previous record of 53 goals was held by the 1979 squad coached by Dr. Jack Kinworthy.
The stout Concordia defense was equally impressive, limiting Doane (4-10-3) to just three tries. The Bulldogs owned advantages of 18-3 in shots, 12-2 in shots on goal and 4-3 in corner kicks. Florian Quast and Carter Wiebusch combined in goal to preserve the clean sheet.
Ochoa praised the defensive unit, saying, “We're a good collective defensive team. Today wasn't our best performance with our press, but our defensive line did a great job. Florian and the guys in the back work hand in hand and communicate really well. When you look at our whole season, they've consistently been able to contain opposing offenses, limit their opportunities and keep them from scoring.”
No. 1 seed Concordia will take on No. 4 seed Dakota Wesleyan (7-5-3) on Friday (Nov. 6) in Seward. The semifinal match is set to begin at 7 p.m. CT.