SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia hosted Morningside for a chance to tie for first place with a win at Bulldog Stadium. The two teams fought it out for 90 minutes on Wednesday night (Oct. 4), but neither team could punch a score through against the top two goalies in the conference. Forcing a 0-0 draw, Nolan Fuelberth made critical saves in different parts of the game, almost doubling (7) the single game season high for the 2023 year.
The Bulldogs stay unbeaten at 10-0-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the GPAC. Head coach Jason Weides commented on how the two different halves played out.
“They let us have the ball in the first half, but we couldn’t really create opportunities from it. Ultimately, we didn’t counter-press very well and we allowed for quick transitions for them. In the second half, we switched it on and played a little bit better. We threatened in the final spaces and created more chances. We had opportunities in the end but couldn’t put it in the back of the net.”
The most dangerous chances came in the final 20 minutes of play for the home team. The offense would build up slowly and garnered three corner kicks late in the half, looking for the deadly strike. Ryan Wokutch, Jarrod Henson, Carter Hinman, and Matt Schultz all had a crack at the goal, as the crowd gained more and more hope for the late game winner. After those final chances, Concordia just couldn’t find the final touch before the clock ran out.
In the 41st minute, goalkeeper Nolan Fuelberth kicked the ball to a teammate and immediately had the ball stolen, giving the Mustangs a one versus one situation with Fuelberth. Jona Fischer took a hard shot with Nolan far out of the box but he punched the ball out, saving a late first half goal. This was one of a few moments he earned the clean sheet.
Fuelberth commented on getting the shutout and making some big saves in one versus one situations.
“I knew we were going to have to defend more tonight than most nights. I was ready and prepared, and I knew the back line had my back too. We ultimately did enough to get the shutout. (on a big save before half) It was just instinct that kicked in, to be honest. I saw someone give up a ball and I wanted the close down the angle as quickly as possible. I just read his hips and knew he was going to the side and was able to make the save.”
The first half was split in two as the first 17 minutes left both teams with zero shots. The offenses picked up as the Mustangs rattled off nine, most from long distance, in the rest of the 45 minutes. CUNE would total seven shots to Morningside’s 13.
Concordia played the full match without fifth year senior Izzy Shaddick on Wednesday.
Concordia (10-0-2, 4-0-2) has their longest road trip of the season, driving to face Jamestown (2-7-3, 1-3-2 GPAC) on Saturday (Oct. 7). First kick is set for 5 p.m. CT at the Jimmy Turf Field. The Dawgs have gone unbeaten (3-0-2) against the Jimmies since 2018.