Seward, Neb. – The Concordia Men’s Soccer squad will enter its first competition of 2024. Taking the field in Seward, Neb., the Bulldogs will square off against Avila University in a Saturday morning contest. High expectations were inevitable across the GPAC and NAIA, as the team was picked to finish second in the conference and received the highest number of votes of any GPAC team in the national poll.
This Week
Saturday, Aug. 24 vs. Avila, 11 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium
By the numbers
· Head Coach Jason Weides enters his 17th year after an impressive unbeaten showing in the 2023 regular season. His teams own the top four out of five winningest seasons with 2017 coming out on top with a 16-3-1 and 7-2 GPAC record losing in the finals of the GPAC tournament. He has won the GPAC tournament twice in 2015 and 2022 and is still looking for a regular season championship. His 2015 GPAC season was not a shiny record ending the season at 4-4-2 but the Bulldogs played together when it mattered the most. The team bested a then No. 19 Hastings (1-0) to take out the top seed for their first tournament championship. His players fill the top 10 individual awards with athletes like Nathan Douglas, Aaron Skipworth and Mark Horsburgh.
· The 2023 season was a record breaking one as the Bulldogs ended their campaign with the sour taste of their first defeat in 18 games. The team ended with a 13-1-4 overall record and a 7-0-4 going unbeaten in the regular season for the first time as a program. They allowed the fewest goals (13) by any Concordia Men’s Soccer team and strangled eight shutouts out of their competition. Concordia on Sept. 25 landed at No. 25 in the NAIA Coaches’ poll, entering the rankings for the first time in the program. The Bulldogs were a mainstay in the national poll and spent the season’s final eight weeks inside the top 25, peaking at No. 18. All season long, the Bulldogs were rated as the GPAC’s top team.
· Concordia loses two of their All-GPAC recipients in Matt Schultz and Isaiah Shaddick but has a veteran squad with 10 returning for their final tour this fall. Concordia welcomes back six 2023 All-GPAC award winners: Ferdi Hagen (First Team); Carter Hinman (First Team); Nolan Fuelberth (Second Team); Jarrod Henson (Second Team); Braden Spath (Second Team); Gabriel Mendoza (Honorable Mention). In addition, two-time second team all-league choice Iker Casanova returns to the back line entering his fifth year as a starter. Hinman (10 goals in 2023) represents the leading returning goal scorer while Ryan Wokutch will look to add to his 18 career goals this season. The team returns a long list of experienced players from last season that also includes the likes of Okan Erkocu, Youssef Heggy, Martin Herrera, Slade Leicht, Michael Lindberg, Kai Olbrich, Adrian Wambua and D’Andre Williams.
Avila
The Eagles went 3-14-1 in the 2023 season taking wins over Park University (Mo.), Evangel (Mo.) and Bethel (Kan.). Avila returned three of its top-four goal scorers (Sam Kanda, Vincent Escott, Ismaiel Cisse) and assists leader (Thaddeus Chapman) from a season ago. These two teams will meet for the first time since 2007 when the Bulldogs won (4-3) via Arturo Vega after a boot between the posts in the 86th minute.
Next Week
The Bulldogs will hit the road for their next two nonconference matches on Aug. 28 and 31. The matches are listed below and will take place in Iowa and Missouri.
Wednesday, Aug. 28
6 p.m. – at Graceland
Saturday, Aug. 31
7:30 p.m. – at Columbia