Bulldog soccer sweeps Benedictine Ravens
Photo description: Freshman Youssef Heggy battles the opponent’s midfield as he brings the ball toward the goal.
Photo credit: Esther Molina (Photo from previous game)
Cohen Carpenter
Sower Staff
In men’s soccer, two undefeated playoff-hopefuls met in Atchison, Kansas Wednesday night. The Bulldogs handed Benedictine College their first loss of the season winning 1-0, dropping the Ravens to a 4-1 record.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have yet to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard when the final whistle has blown. Through six contests to open the season, the Concordia Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 16 to 3, including a 7-0 route of McPherson on Sept. 9. This put the Bulldogs on pace for their best start to a season since 2019, when the men’s team started off the season 7-0 before finally dropping an overtime game to Kansas Wesleyan University on Sept. 25 of that year.
The first half opened with strong defense on both sides of the ball. For the first 30 minutes of the contest, both backlines were nigh impregnable, with there only being one shot goal for either side’s offense. Notably, with 33 minutes left in the half, Raven defender Felippie Vargas put a nice touch on a through-ball to forward Eliah Froeyland with a seemingly clear shot on the goal ahead of him. Much to his dismay however, Bulldog midfielder junior Braden Spath was step-for-step with him. He slid on the ball and allowed his teammates to clear it. Throughout the first half, both teams enjoyed an almost 50/50 split when it came to time with the ball.
However, this defensive back-and-forth changed as the second half loomed. Following a soft pass by defender Juan Mendez back to the Raven’s keeper Noah Reuscher, junior forward Carter Hinman pressed the issue and the keeper. Panicked, Reuscher fouled Hinman inside the box and a penalty kick ensued. It was senior Victor Meneses who took the kick for the Bulldogs. A sharp kick to the left side of the goal took the keeper out of the equation, despite his correct guess and best effort; it was 1-0 Bulldogs with six minutes left to play in the first half. This was the Benedictine Ravens’ first deficit of the season.
In the final minutes of the first half, both teams exchanged shots, none of which were on goal, and the Bulldogs headed into the locker room having maintained their one-goal lead.
Benedictine came out at halftime with a new defensive look. For the beginning of the second half, the Ravens were in a high press, with most of their players being on the Concordia half of the field. This strategy almost paid off in the first five minutes, when a corner kick found the head of Raven forward Jeronimo Palez mere feet away from the goal. Luckily for the Bulldogs, this effort was in vain and the ball sailed wide-left and harmlessly out of play. Concordia remained on their heels for the remainder of the contest and refused to yield.
During the second half, the Ravens only put one quality shot on goal despite their aggressive style of play. That last, best chance for the Ravens came with one minute left in the contest when midfielder Diego Acuna floated a ball into the goal area from about 20 yards out. This pass was nearly headed by defender Carson Poole of the Ravens but was grabbed first by the Bulldog keeper, Sophomore Nolan Fuelberth, a save that most certainly stopped a goal from scoring. As the last few seconds of the game wound down, the defensive front of the Bulldogs held, just as it had for the previous 89 minutes of play. The final whistle blew and Concordia was victorious, only needing the one goal to secure their victory.
Individually, not many statistics were registered on the offensive side of the ball. Victor Meneses had the lone goal of the game. Aside from Meneses, there were only two other Bulldogs with a shot on goal, those being junior forward Martin Herrera and senior midfielder Matt Schultz. However, thanks to the outstanding defensive play, the Ravens were rather quiet on the offensive side of things. As a team, Benedictine College only registered one shot on goal, courtesy of midfielder Carson Wilcox.
Just like Dorothy, the Bulldogs will leave Kansas with their eyes on bigger and better things. Concordia’s yellow brick road is the looming Great Plains Athletic Conference play, with the Tuesday night matchup vs Benedictine College being their last non-conference game for the foreseeable future. Their next match up will be the first conference game of the season, and it will be at home against a 1-2-3 Mount Marty University squad. First touch will be 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16.
