Box Score Sept. 3, 2011 - On an afternoon in which heavy rain and lightning threatened to derail the Concordia men's soccer opening match against Webster University, it was a lightning strike by the Cougars in the final minute of the first half that made a thundering sound. The Cougar men hung on to beat visiting Webster University 1-0 and notched their first victory over the Gorloks in four tries.
Webster had the better of play in the first 15-20 minutes, but Concordia's defense was up to the task. The Cougar defenders made some quality blocks in their end of the field, and senior John Gehm (Frankenmuth, MI/H.S.) was solid in goal with five first-half saves.
It appeared as if the two teams would go into halftime scoreless, but the Cougars changed that with just 17 seconds remaining. Freshman Dylan Pavlison (Villa Park, CA/Orange Lutheran) lined up for a restart from about 40 yards out. His drive sailed into the box from where Jake Hawthorne (Fort Smitth, AR/Van Buren) outjumped his marker and nodded the ball home past the keeper.
The Cougars were outshot 10-3 in the half, but the late goal gave them some momentum coming out of the locker room for the second half. Concordia kept its composure against Webster's physical defense and made sure that the visitors did not get too many quality scoring chances. The Gorloks' best chance came in the 83rd minute when Justin Peters took a pass on the left side and hit a hard low strike which beat Gehm but caromed off the far post and out of danger.
Concordia will look for its first 2-0 start in 11 seasons on Sunday afternoon when they host the University of Dubuque.
