Box Score
Sept. 4, 2013 - Following a solid 2-0 start to the season this past weekend, the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team were eager to test themselves against a perennially tough Elmhurst College team this afternon at Concordia Stadium.
The Cougars played the Bluejays on even terms for much of the game, but Elmhurst scored a 67th minute goal and added an insurance marker in the final seconds to take home a 2-0 victory.
Play in the first half moved up and down the field, but both teams were tough in their defensive ends. Concordia goalkeeper Roberto Aragon (Cicero, IL/Morton East) was called upon to make just two saves among the Bluejays' five shots. On the other end, the Cougars took five shots with their best chance coming when Daniel Ortiz (Cicero, IL/Morton East) fired a shot from the right side that went just wide of the left post.
The intensity picked up in the second half as both sides knew that the first goal would be huge. The Cougars barely missed out on two chances, the first coming when Manny Valdez (Westchester, IL/St. Joseph) settled a rebound in the box, turned and hit a rocket that sailed over the goal. A second opportunity came shortly afterward when Michael Amezcua (Cicero, IL/Morton East) hit a tricky shot that beat Reglin only to carom off the crossbar.
Midway through the half, the visitors broke through. Austin Haas picked up a deflected ball, moved to his right and fired back across from around 20 yards out. The ball settled just inside the left post for the Elmhurst 1-0 lead.
Concordia pressed the attack to try and net the equalizer, but Elmhurst's defense was up to the task. Taylor Nehmer (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) had a shot blocked by a defender, and Victor Crouch's (Gibson City, IL/H.S.) header was saved by Reglin. The Bluejays then netted the second goal with just 1.8 seconds left when Michael Delong got to a loose ball in the box and poked it into the open net.
While the loss was disappointing, Cougar head coach Micah Middendorf took positives from the game. "At times, I believe we played better soccer than we did in our 7-1 win on Sunday," said Middendorf. "It's hard sometimes for players to think like that when you've just come off the field after a game like that, but you have to consider that Elmhurst has been a very good team in this region for a while. We went toe to toe with them for most of the day and, I think when the guys look at the video, it will be easier to see many of the good things that we accomplished. It's still a tough loss, but we'll move on and get ready for Ripon on Sunday."
