Seward, Neb. – A rested Bulldog squad will welcome Morningside on Saturday for their sixth GPAC matchup of the 2024 season. Concordia Men’s Soccer will celebrate the 2024 senior class, including nine student-athletes. The Bulldogs came out on top against Dakota Wesleyan in their lone contest this past weekend.
This Week
Saturday, Oct. 12 vs. Morningside (4-5-1, 2-1-1 GPAC), 8 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· After three straight contests ending with a draw, Concordia grabbed an early lead against Dakota Wesleyan and left no doubt in the 3-0 road shutout. The Bulldogs dominated the first half with two goals and an 11-6 shot advantage over the Tigers. Perhaps the most impressive score and the eventual game winner came from the Iowa Western transfer Oliver Benson. The Bennington, Neb., native left a defender in his wake before scorching a bender of a goal past the keeper in the 24th minute. Goals two and three were more alike coming from great passes that opened up for Martin Herrera and Ryan Brown to score. Brown, a senior out of Mount Michael Benedictine, booted the first goal of his career from a perfect cross via D’Andre Williams. Herrera scored his fifth goal to stay near the top of the league (five season goals) and his score was via Hugo Garrote. The offense has scored at least one goal in the last six games and has only been shutout twice in 12 contests.
· The Bulldogs' strength through the first 12 games has been on the defensive side of the ball. Concordia is the only team that has allowed fewer than double digit goals (nine) and leads the category in front of Northwestern (14) and Mount Marty (17) having played two fewer games. Bolstered behind a conference best 0.75 goals allowed average, the Bulldogs are alone at the top as Northwestern owns the next best goals allowed (1.40). Having collected a conference high four shutouts, CUNE has 45 saves as a team and are sitting at the middle of the pack. The Concordia goalkeepers have had fewer chances to defend because of the team's collaborative defense. Led by co-captains Iker Casanova and Ferdi Hagen, Coach Weides’ squad boasts significant talent in the defensive third.
· Take one glance at the keeper leaderboard and you will find Nolan Fuelberth plastered across the top of many significant categories. With the highest save percentage (.814) and goals against average (0.80) in the conference, native of Lincoln, Neb., Fuelberth is at No. 1 in goals against giving up only eight in 92 shot attempts. The product, out of Lincoln Southwest, ended his 2023 campaign in the top 5 in both categories last season (eight, 0.80). Gabriel Mendoza and Fuelberth combined for the program’s season low 13 goals allowed last season.
· Martin Herrera has broken into the top-5 in the conference in goals scored (five) and is in a five-way tie for fourth with Marco Laenen (Dordt), Ameer Madden (Doane), Alex Ruiz (NWC) and Stan van den Beld (NWC). The goal leaders in the top three are Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran (eight), Adnan Boulaghmal (seven) and Tim Berger (six). Garcia (19), Boulaghmal (15) and Ameer Madden (15) are the top-3 point scorers in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. D'Andre Williams has crossed his way into the top-5 in assists tied at No. 3 with four passes that led to Concordia scores. The shifty London, Canada, native is even with Hugo Mariage (BCU), Brayden Wright (MU) and Beld.
· The Bulldogs have tied more than they combined win or losses and have just snapped a three game tie streak. The team has tied with Graceland University (0-0), Columbia College (1-1), Grand View University (1-1), York University (1-1), Dordt (1-1), Hastings (1-1) and Briar Cliff (1-1). With the previous season record at four (2023, 2018), Concordia has seven with five regular season matches left in its slate. Since the NAIA ruled out overtime in the regular season (started in 2022), the GPAC has seen an uptick in draws. Multiple teams have had seven ties (conference record) in a season and Morningside has the most in conference play (season) with six (2022).
· There will be nine seniors honored on Saturday as the 2024 class includes Ryan Brown, Nolan Fuelberth, Jarrod Henson, Martin Herrera, Carter Hinman, Spencer Kaufman, Gabriel Mendoza, Manuel Rodriguez and D’Andre Williams. Since that time, the Bulldogs have seen much success with the biggest coming from a 2022 GPAC Tournament Championship that led to the second ever nationals playoff berth. In 2023, Concordia went unbeaten in the regular season with a 13-0-4 overall record and surged into the top-25 of the NAIA Coaches Poll for the first time in its 53 year program history. The 2023 team reached its peak in the rankings at No. 18 in the rankings and spent the final eight weeks inside the top-25. The class record thus far is 39-13-17 overall and 22-5-11 in the GPAC.
· While the Bulldogs’ Massey Rating has jumped from 70th to 64th, their strength of schedule has dropped (51 to 77) after the Dakota Wesleyan match. The ratings expect these two teams to be a highly contested match, with Morningside rated only one spot below the Dawgs (65th) and a higher strength of schedule (60th).
Morningside
The Mustangs come into the week with a 4-5-1 overall showing and a 2-1-1 record in GPAC play. Common nonconference opponents led to Morningside dropping two games versus Grand View University (2-1) and then 7th-ranked Bellevue University (2-1). In the first two conference games, the Mustangs bested Hastings (3-2) and Doane (5-0) in a shutout. They found their first loss against 2023 GPAC Champion Briar Cliff (2-1) and tied Midland (0-0) in their most recent match. The team will play Dordt at home in the midweek and currently have a 1-4-1 record on the road. The Mustangs average 11.3 shots per game and have totaled 18 goals, while allowing 20. With a .549 shots on goal percentage, the squad out of Sioux City is led in scoring by a pack and 10 different players have put at least one in the back of the net. Tim Teschner and Timon Koerber have split time between the posts and have allowed two goals per game on a .672 save percentage on 41 total saves.
Next Week
The Bulldogs will continue conference play visiting Doane and Waldorf next week. Concordia will travel to face the Tigers at Al Papik Field and the Warriors in Forest CIty, Iowa. The matches are listed below.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
7:15 p.m. – at Doane
Saturday, Oct. 19
7:15 p.m. – at Waldorf