Sept. 15, 2011 - For a match in which the Concordia Cougar men's soccer team played some of its best soccer of the season thus far, Wednesday's 2-1 loss to visiting Lake Forest College was a tough result to accept. From the second half on, Concordia dominated play against a Lake Forest team that came into the match with a perfect 5-0 record. However, the game got away from the Cougars with just 2:25 remaining in the second overtime as Mahir Mameledzija notched his second goal of the day.

 

Lake Forest had control of the game over the first 45 minutes, outshooting Concordia by a 10-2 margin. However, Jorge Guzman (Cicero, IL/Morton East) was outstanding in goal for the Cougars today. He made four saves in the first half although he could not prevent Mameledzija's strike in the 25th minute. The striker fired from the top of the box with the ball hitting off the crossbar and coming straight down. Guzman appeared to smother the ball, but the ruling on the field was that the ball had crossed the line entirely for a goal.

 

The Cougars came out on fire for the second half. They applied great man pressure and quickly became more dangerous on the attack behind the play of Kyle Joss (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles North), Alex Lopez (Streamwood, IL/H.S.) and Chris Jahns (Roselle, IL/Lake Park). Finally, in the 77th minute, the Cougars found their opening; Tyler Nehmer (Milwaukee, IL/Milwaukee Lutheran) lofted a ball toward the top of the box. Foresters' keeper Ian Taylor came out to punch the ball away, but Tyler's younger brother Taylor Nehmer beat Taylor to the ball and headed the ball into the goal for the tying tally.

 

The two teams battled through the end of the regulation and the first overtime with a continued fast pace, each creating some additional scoring chances. Then, as time was running down in the second overtime and it appeared as if the match might end in a draw, LFC's Mameledzija ran onto a long pass down the left side. He got a step on his defender, cut to the middle and got off a hard shot that Guzman got a hand on but could not corral. The ball settled into the net as Lake Forest celebrated the game-winner at the 107:35 mark.

 

The final shot totals favored Lake Forest 21-11. Taylor made four saves for the Foresters while Guzman finished with eight.

 

Concordia (1-5-0) will open Northern Athletics Conference play Saturday afternoon at 1:00 when they host Concordia Wisconsin.