The 2024 Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Soccer team will forever be the first. On Nov. 21, 2024, the Bulldogs celebrated the program’s first ever win on the NAIA National Championship stage. Underneath overcast skies on a chilly late fall day in Grand Rapids, Mich., the Bulldogs stifled longtime nonconference nemesis Benedictine College (Kan.) in a 2-0 shutout in the first round of the national tournament. Kierstynn Garner did the honors of hoisting the updated bracket into the air in the aftermath of the historic achievement.
This was the moment Head Coach Nick Smith always believed would happen, even as his squad stood at 0-3 in league play in late September. This was one barrier Concordia soccer players past and present had dreamt of knocking down.
“I’m really pleased with what we were able to accomplish this year,” Smith said. “I said before the season started that we had the potential in this group to really make some noise. We went through some growing pains this year, but to get ourselves into position where we qualified for the national tournament and then to be victorious for the first time in program history is a huge achievement. I couldn’t be prouder of our group of young women. I think they really stayed true to the message all year long. They got rewarded for sticking with the message and continuing to figure some things out. It’s a reflection of the growth we had as a team – and we also had a lot of individual growth from players too.”
It's not often that a team can go from 0-3 in conference play (3-5-1 overall at the time) to winning on the national stage and posting a 14-7-1 overall record. But the 2024 Bulldogs proved they were not a typical team. With no margin for error remaining following the rough start, Concordia proceeded to rattle off 10-straight victories while outscoring its opponents by a combined total of 36-3. The season’s achievements included GPAC runner-up finishes in the regular season and postseason as the program appeared in the conference tournament final for the seventh time. The national tournament bid was clinched on Nov. 7 when the Bulldogs earned a 1-0 GPAC tournament semifinal win over Dordt as Hastings simultaneously won on the other side of the bracket.
Before Concordia could experience glory at the national tournament, it had to find a way to grit out victories while navigating injuries to key players. Only Elena Ruiz started all 22 games as the Bulldogs shuffled the deck when injuries popped up for the likes of Garner, Savannah Andrews, Hannah Kile, Taylor Slaymaker and others. As Smith said, Concordia needed that first domino to fall. It happened on homecoming when the Bulldogs eked out a 1-0 victory over Briar Cliff while playing the second half with both Andrews and Garner sidelined. Freshman Kyana Rios emerged with the lone goal. Rios, Avery Black and Triniti Rowe all made an immediate impact as rookies.
Said Smith, “The big thing initially we were struggling with was our health. To be able to have everyone return to the field certainly made a difference for us and allowed us to have some consistency with personnel on the field. During that time we were struggling a little bit, we had players in and out. The other thing for us was just getting that first domino. We start 0-3, but the first game we had no business losing, the second game we lose on the last kick of the game and the third one we lose to a really good Hastings team that took their two chances. The message was that we weren’t playing awful, we just weren’t getting the result. We get that first domino to fall with Briar Cliff and we start to get a little bit of that belief back. We had some players return and we were able to channel that belief through the rest of the year. That takes us to where we ended.”
Garner, Niah Kirchner and Taylor Slaymaker all landed on the first team of the GPAC All-Conference honor roll while Andrews, Angela Banks and Rios garnered second team accolades. Honorable mention went to Hannah Kile and Ruiz. In year three as a Bulldog, Garner produced 22 goals and 13 assists for a school single season record 57 points. Six of Garner’s goals were game winners as she set a new program career standard in that category. Other top offensive contributors were Andrews (eight goals and four assists), Rosie Gyllenswan (four goals and five assists) and Rios (four goals and two assists). Gyllenswan will always hold the distinction of being the first player in school history to score a goal at the national tournament.
On senior day, the program honored nine seniors, including Slaymaker, who intends to return in 2025 while making use of a redshirt year. Slaymaker’s fellow classmates are Banks, Lilley Barber, Gyllenswan, Emily Howard, Zoe Lavigne, Senna McMullen, Molly Roberts and Katelyn Smith. It’s a crew that was recruited by the previous coach before adjusting to Smith when he arrived in the spring of 2023. The exception is Gyllenswan, who transferred from former GPAC member Jamestown for her final season of eligibility. Fifth-year Bulldog Hannah Haas also used up her eligibility while playing in 21 games in ’24.
The pieces fit nicely together as a star-studded junior class headlined by Garner and Kirchner helped lead the way. In discussing the importance of Kirchner in the midfield, Smith referred to her as someone all other GPAC coaches are aware of and who is “crucial to what we’re trying to do in possession.” The emergence of Banks as an all-conference goalkeeper was another major development. By the time the Bulldogs defeated Dordt in the semifinals, they had blanked six-consecutive opponents. On the season, Concordia piled up 52 goals while conceding 30.
The victory at the national tournament represented a major milestone for the program, but Smith doesn’t believe that was the Bulldogs’ ceiling. Smith and company are dreaming of potential GPAC championships and a trip to the NAIA final site. Those are lofty attainments that will require Concordia to put in the work over the spring and summer.
“It’s about the concept of not settling,” Smith said. “I want us when we reconvene in January to be able to celebrate the year that we had, but we can’t rest. If we truly want to be at this level consistently, we still have work to do, but we’ve put ourselves in a really good spot. Of the 11 players who started the two national tournament games for us, nine of them return. Seven All-GPAC players are returning to us as well. It’s about continuing to develop these individuals and working on our team as a whole and what the identity is going to be. It’s about fine-tuning the details in the margins. When you get to that point, that is the only difference really. It’s about tiny fixes and tiny improvements. We’re going to be working hard this spring and summer to make sure we’re in a better place to be successful again next year.”