SEWARD, Neb. – A run of four-straight home games continues this week as the Concordia University women’s soccer team welcomes two more nonconference foes to Bulldog Stadium. Fourth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad hosts Grace University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (Sept. 7) and then Friends University at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 10).
The Bulldogs (2-1-1) are 2-0 at home so far this season after earning wins over York College, 6-0, and Graceland University (Iowa), 1-0, during last week’s action. Those results netted honors for both Maria Deeter, Bulldog Athletic Association Female Athlete of the Week, and Chrissy Lind. A senior from Colorado Springs, Lind collected the sixth GPAC defensive player of the week award of her career.
Going back to the end of last season, Deeter has been on a goal-scoring binge. The Seward native now has eight career goals with five of them coming over her last eight games. Last week Deeter booked two goals and two assists, including the game-winning goal in the victory over Graceland.
The Bulldogs have gotten comfortable at home under Henson. Since the beginning of 2013, Concordia owns a record of 24-8-1 when playing inside Bulldog Stadium. Another trend to watch out for this week is the team’s active run of 224-straight minutes without allowing a goal. Lind now has 21 career shutouts, which is a program record.
Six different players have combined to score Concordia’s nine goals this season. Sami Birmingham, Deeter and Esther Soenksen are tied for the team lead with two each. Three others have exactly one goal: Rachael Bolin, Jeannelle Condame and Lauren Martin. Deeter and Jessica Skerston have added two assists apiece.
A victory would mark Henson’s 40th as leader of the Bulldogs. Last week he moved to No. 1 all-time on the program’s all-time coaching wins list. He’s now 39-19-8 since arriving in Seward. His 2014 and 2015 teams posted a combined 29 victories.
Grace has yet to score a goal and is 0-5 so far this season. The Royals dropped a 4-0 decision to Dordt on Aug. 30 in a game played in Omaha. The most recent meeting between Concordia and Grace resulted in a 6-0 Bulldog victory on Sept. 5, 2014. On the other hand, Friends is off to a 3-0 start and has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 12-1. The Falcons are a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Both of this week’s games will be carried live by the Concordia Sports Network.