SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Soccer gashed Morningside (3-0) later in the opening half on Saturday (Sept. 26) night. Joe McCarroll, Kade Olbrich and Hugo Garrote all found the back of the net for a first stanza trifecta giving the Bulldogs a comfortable lead to lean on in the route of the Mustangs. The blue and white has won nine consecutive GPAC games going back to 2025.
Head Coach Bernie Ochoa and company have four consecutive wins going above .500 (5-4) and are undefeated (3-0) in GPAC play so far. Through three games, Concordia remains the only undefeated team in the conference.
“The team got off to a slow start, but after the first 15 minutes, we made a few changes and were able to adjust and play a little more offensively,” Coach Ochoa said. “They gave us opportunities to get behind them and capitalize. The strong point today was the bench players coming onto the field and making a difference.”
The Bulldogs have scored five goals in the last two games and four have come from players off the bench. Joe McCarroll made the most of his minutes coming in to clock the eventual game winner. Michael Wyvill dashed a long assist, hitting the Scot in stride as he performed a 29th minute burial. McCarroll has two goals in the last three games and is one of four to have multiple goals.
“It was good,” McCarroll said. “You could see there were more combination plays. We’re mixing it up a bit more, not just always going direct, but also playing through. I thought we were a bit better going forward today. Very positive performance overall.”
With two sets of siblings on the Concordia side, Bulldog nation was bound to see a brother to brother finish eventually. In the 34th minute, Veteran Kai Olbrich fought to get up the far side finding space just before the end line. The senior sent a cross to freshman Kade Olbrich as the younger punched in his first career goal via his elder relative.
Garrote would be the cherry on top in the first half smashing a free kick in the to corner as he has many times before. The Spaniard marked the sixth goal of his career with seemingly every single one having their own highlight reel.
The Bulldogs made the most of their six tries (five on goal). Morningside continued to look for quality shots but found none with eight shots (zero on frame). Concordia’s patented arsenal of defenders shut the doors in the last seconds to each shot. Sean Stratman clamped down on offensive possessions continually as others were at his six including Wyvill, Niko Narieke, Connor Robbins and Lucas Montino.
Morningside’s (3-4-3, 2-1 GPAC) top goal scorer Mengistu Schmidt was held to two shots. The Mustangs had an edge in corner kicks (5-1). They will face Midland next on Oct. 3.
The Bulldogs (5-4, 3-0 GPAC) will have the midweek off before traveling to Sioux City, Iowa to face Briar Cliff (4-4-1, 1-1-1 GPAC) next Saturday. First whistle is set for 3:30 p.m. CT.