“Underdog” story of 2025 men’s soccer season culminates in GPAC title
Junior Michael Wyvill dodges around defenders (photo from 2024 season).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Ransom Watts
A season of constant ups and downs, challenges, but relentless perseverance culminated Tuesday night in a Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship title for the Concordia men’s soccer team.
The game was undeniably hard-fought, and the Bulldogs played with unprecedented speed and intensity. The first half had Concordia in the lead by one, off a goal by junior Oliver Benson, his fourth of the season.
Into the second half, Morningside brought constant offensive pressure to the Bulldogs. 25 minutes after the restart, Morningside got away with a goal that tied the game 1-1. Concordia’s defense, however, kept the ball out of the goal after that and kept the Bulldogs alive with block after block, and one leaping save by the goalkeeper, senior Inigo Chavarria.
A few offensive substitutions were made, which immediately rekindled the fire for Concordia with a game-saving goal. Benson got a hold of the ball, and driving down field, danced around Morningside’s defenders, nearly into the lower edge of the field, and passed to sophomore Ricards Busmeisters, who sent a perfectly placed shot floating out of reach of the goalkeeper into the corner of the net.
“I don’t even have words to describe it, just great emotions,” said Busmeisters. “We knew when we came on the second time off the bench that we had to just change the game and get the second goal, and we did.”
Despite the confidence, Busmeisters reflected that this season was anything but painless.
“We started the season with a very bad record,” said Busmeisters. “I don’t even know if I’m going to say what. And we turned the season around completely.”
Coach Jason Weides shared similar sentiments about the challenges overcome this season.
“The season had a lot of challenges, as many seasons do, but this one was unique,” he said. “It was filled with a lot of hard work, a lot of tears.”
Coach Weides also cited general disbelief as one of the season’s many hurdles.
“I think at one point there was probably internal lack of belief in what we thought we could do,” said Wiedes. “But I think internally we started to have that shift.”
Both Weides and Busmeisters believe, however, that those hardships were conquered.
“This should be a documentary, an underdog story,” said Busmeisters. “We turned the season around completely.”
“At the end of the day, you wanna be playing your best soccer in November,” said Weides. “And they are. I’m really proud of the way these guys came together. They trust each other, they love each other, and it’s fun to see that”
And even after such an amazing performance, the team is not finished just yet. On Nov. 20, the Bulldogs take on the first round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National tournament.
“We’ve got to focus on nationals and bigger things to come,” said Busmeisters.
With the location of the first round of the NAIA national tournament yet to be determined, what’s certain is that the “underdog story” of Concordia soccer’s 2025 season is sure to continue.
