Sept. 12, 2012 - The Concordia men's soccer team took on Elmhurst College this evening in the last of their five straight non-conference matches to start the season. The Cougars had an early lead in this match, but a late first-half goal gave the host Bluejays a blast of momentum which carried over into a three-goal second half and a 4-1 Elmhurst victory.

Elmhurst had the better of play in the first half with an 11-3 margin in shots, but Concordia struck for a 1-0 lead against the run of play. A deflected ball in front found its way to an open Michael Amezcua (Cicero, IL/Morton East), and Amezcua made no mistake in notching his first collegiate goal into the empty net.

It appeared as if the Cougars would emerge from the half with a 1-0 lead, but it was not to be. With just 10 seconds left, Michael Delong ran onto a long cross from Alex Safford, and Delong beat Jorge Guzman (Cicero, IL/Morton East) one-on-one to knot the score.

Fueled by the late strike, Elmhurst took the lead 10 minutes into the second half. A turnover in Concordia's end of the field resulted in Kyle Smith tallying the unassisted go-ahead half.

The Bluejays added two insurance goals in the late going. A 35-yard rocket by Austin Hass made it a 3-1 game in the 73rd minute. Delong scored his second of the match with five minutes to play, eluding two defenders with a quick turn to shoot past Guman.

Concordia recorded eight shots for the match with Amezcua, Alex Lopez (Streamwood, IL/H.S.) and Brendan Mullane (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) taking two each. Elmhurst finished with 24 shots, 13 on goal and nine saved by Guzman.

The Cougars (0-5) will open Northern Athletics Conference play on Saturday with a match at Concordia University Wisconsin.