SEWARD, Neb. – The story is all too familiar for a Concordia University Men’s Soccer team that keeps adding to a school record for number of draws in a single season. In Saturday’s late evening homecoming (Sept. 28) tilt with Briar Cliff, the Bulldogs let a 1-0 lead get away in what resulted in a 1-1 tie with visiting Briar Cliff. Senior D’Andre Williams had staked Concordia to a 1-0 lead with his powerful strike in the 22nd minute.
This was a battle between two sides picked first and second in the GPAC preseason poll. Head Coach Jason Weides’ squad (2-2-7, 1-0-3 GPAC) still hasn’t been defeated in league play but the mounting tally of ties is a source of frustration.
“It was a competitive college game,” Weides said. “It probably could have gone either way. It’s certainly a game we are disappointed with. At the end of the day, we deserved a draw. We made some critical mistakes that gave them a chance and we couldn’t quite put that second goal away. We had some chances to do that. We fought hard with good intensity. We just came up short – we’re saying that too often. You tie you’re seventh game of the year, it’s frustrating.”
Williams nearly had the game winner in the 88th minute when his free kick drilled the crossbar. It was the last gasp for either side in a contest that ended with eight shots apiece. The 1-1 tie held up over the final 40 minutes after Yalin Alici supplied the equalizer. A turnover by the Bulldogs put Alici on the run. He eluded one defender and then found the back of the net.
It was a rare breakdown for a Concordia squad that has allowed a total of nine goals through 11 games. In goal, Nolan Fuelberth made three saves to help preserve the tie. He was kept clean for much of the night by a back line featuring reigning GPAC Defensive Player of the Week Michael Wyvill. As for Williams, he rocketed a frozen rope of a goal just inside the left post. He cashed in on the cross from Oliver Benson. It was one of only a handful of quality offensive opportunities.
Each of the past three GPAC outings have resulted in 1-1 ties (including matchups with Dordt and Hastings). Dating back to 2022, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in their last 24 GPAC regular season games (15-0-9). Concordia believes it can reign atop the GPAC standings by season’s end and also knows it has to start putting games like the one on Saturday in the win column.
Said Weides of his team at the close of September, “We’ve learned that we have depth. There have been some guys who have been out for a long time that are just coming back and we have some guys who are out and don’t know when they’re coming back. We’ve had some guys step up and play some important roles. This is a team that is learning from our errors. We’re addressing things as a coaching staff, and they’re getting better at it. We’re right there with anybody.”
The Bulldogs will have the middle of this coming week off as they look ahead to next Saturday’s road trip to Dakota Wesleyan (4-4-2, 1-2 GPAC). Kickoff from Mitchell, S.D., is set for 5:30 p.m. CT. Concordia also appeared in Mitchell last season and came away with a 1-0 win as Carter Hinman notched the lone goal.