Horsburgh earns first career shutout in win at Dakota Wesleyan
By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant
MITCHELL, S.D. – Concordia capped off the regular season with a workmanlike 1-0 road victory over Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., on Saturday. The conference win was the Bulldogs’ sixth of the season, setting a new program record for GPAC wins in a single year. Concordia moved to 10-8 overall and 6-4 in league play.
“It was one of those hard fought, grind-it-out wins against a good Dakota Wesleyan team,” Concordia head coach Jason Weides said. “The game ended up being a lot harder than it should have been because we went down a man early in the second half.
“Credit to our guys for winning a game that became a lot harder than it should have been. Our keeper played well. Our back four played well. Everybody had to work their tails off to see this one out and they did a good job.”
Sophomore Gideon Soenksen punched in the game’s lone goal at the 25-minute mark in a “scramble in the box,” as Weides described it. The goal proved to be crucial as 13 minutes later, the Bulldogs would be forced to play with just 10 men on the field after a red card was issued.
Weides acknowledged that while being down a man was an obstacle, his team was able to overcome it. With an increased pressure on the rest of the squad, they responded with resilience.
Freshman Mark Horsburgh, who hails from Edinburgh, Scotland, stayed busy tending the nets with 11 saves on the day. He picked up his first career shutout in the team’s fifth blanking of the season.
Offensively, senior Nathan Douglas led the Bulldog push with five shots, three of which were on goal. Sophomores Jake Sells and Dean Stevens each chipped in with four and three shots respectively.
Under Weides’ direction, Concordia has now won 10 or more games in three-straight seasons. The program record for overall victories in a campaign is 12.
Concordia’s next order of business lies with Northwestern College on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the GPAC Tournament. As the fourth seed, Northwestern gets to host the fifth-seeded Bulldogs. The Red Raiders defeated Concordia the first time they met, back on Oct. 19, with a final score of 2-0.
