SEWARD, Neb. – Rarely this season has the Concordia University men’s soccer team placed its full complement of talents on the field. For much of the fall, the Bulldogs have used their depth to make up for injuries that have popped up all too frequently. Morningside took advantage of the situation on Wednesday (Oct. 16) night and emerged with a 3-0 victory inside Bulldog Stadium.
No matter the circumstances, 12th-year head coach Jason Weides expects more out of his squad. Concordia has slipped to 9-3-1 overall and to 4-2-1 in conference play. The Bulldogs also dropped a 3-0 decision at No. 5 Hastings to cap last week.
It was one of those nights. Even after a spectacular save made by Eduardo Alba in the 65th minute, Concordia had nothing to celebrate. A Bulldog defender knocked in a Mustang cross that resulted in a back-breaking own goal. To compound things, on one of Concordia’s best offensive chances of the night, Moises Jacobo missed to the left of goal. Later the Bulldogs had a goal disallowed due to an offside call.
Concordia is essentially playing without four starters with Roger de la Villa, Caleb Goldsmith, Carlos Ferrer and Joao Pedro Verissimo all sidelined. It’s little solace for dropping a pair of games that have likely taken the Bulldogs out of contention for the GPAC regular-season title.
Morningside (11-2, 5-1 GPAC) deserves its share of credit for what took place on Wednesday. The Mustangs could smell blood late in the match and tacked on their third goal of the night via a strike into the net from Jan-Luca Schlauer. Morningside very nearly made it 4-0 on a shot by Austin Lingle that hit the left post. The Mustangs held a slight, 14-12, advantage in the shot count.
Things have been a little off for Concordia in its past two outings, Prior to the game at Hastings, the Bulldogs had not allowed any of their opponents more than two goals. Concordia had also begun the season with 13-consecutive games without being shut out.
The Bulldogs will be back on the road for a second Saturday in a row with their journey to Briar Cliff (8-4-1, 6-1 GPAC) up next. Kickoff from Sioux City, Iowa, is set for 3:30 p.m. CT. Last season Concordia clipped the Chargers, 2-1, in double overtime. Briar Cliff now owns a five-game win streak after defeating Northwestern, 1-0, on Wednesday.