SEWARD, Neb. – After spending plenty of quality time together during a two-night stay in South Dakota, the Concordia University men’s soccer team will get comfortable at home this week. The Bulldogs broke a school record on Sunday for the longest unbeaten run to a begin a season. Concordia moved its record to 7-0-1 courtesy of a 5-0 victory over Dakota Wesleyan in the GPAC opener for both sides.
This week’s schedule
Tuesday, Sept. 26 vs. Mount Marty, 8 p.m. CT
Saturday, Sept. 30 vs. Bellevue, 3:30 p.m. CT
Prior to this season, the Bulldog men’s soccer program had never begun a season without a loss in the first eight games. The 1973 and 1974 teams both went undefeated through the opening seven games of their respective seasons. A participant in back-to-back GPAC tournament championship games, Concordia has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 22-6. The Bulldogs rank as the stingiest defensive team in the conference with an average of 0.75 goals allowed per game.
On the attacking end, senior Lewis Rathbone has been on a tear, putting forth multiple goal efforts in three straight games. His nine goals are a career high and rank as the 12th highest total in the nation. Rathbone has accounted for 41 percent of his team’s goals in a breakout season. In the outing in Sioux Falls, S.D., against Dakota Wesleyan, Marcelo Hernandez, Micah Lehenbauer and Toby Down added a goal apiece.
Mount Marty (3-2, 0-0 GPAC) already owns more victories than it had all of last season. The Lancers are hoping for a more successful trip to Seward after leaving with an 11-0 loss last season. On the other hand, Bellevue got the best of Concordia, 4-1, in 2016. That game was part of a nine-game winning streak for the Bruins (4-5-1), a perennially strong program.
Both of this week’s home games can be viewed live on the Concordia Sports Network.
After finishing play with Bellevue, the Bulldogs will play exclusively against GPAC opponents the rest of the way. Road trips to Briar Cliff (Oct. 4) and Northwestern (Oct. 7) are coming up next week.