Box Score Oct. 08, 2014 – It was a perfect evening for soccer under the lights as the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team travelled to Naperville for a non-conference match at North Central College. The Cougars gave a good showing against the seventh-ranked (regionally) Cardinals, but the home team emerged victorious 2-0 after 90 minutes.

"The guys did everything necessary to win the game," said CUC head coach Micah Middendorf. "Two plays got to us and that was it. The game was good preparation as we return to conference play on Sunday."

The height of the Cardinals was telling in the early going as they had several headers in the box and a corner kick advantage that was deftly nullified by CUC. The emphasis for the Cougars was to attack down the wings, forcing the Cardinals to retreat and defend. The Concordia-Chicago possession enabled them to get forward as both teams probed for weaknesses.

In the 18^th minute, a free kick by Dan Krajewski (Addison, IL/Addison Trail) was narrowly saved in the upper 90 by the NCC keeper and was the best chance of the half for CUC. The insertion of Johnson Lui (Hong Kong/St. Paul Lutheran MO) was telling on the left hand side and he had several dangerous moments. Brendan Mullane (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) and Justin Kulpa (Wilmington, IL/Wilmington) each had dangerous attempts for the Cougars in the first half that were narrowly saved. However, goalkeeper Jorge Guzman (Cicero, IL/Morton East) was the rock from which CUC built its defense and attack. Unfortunately, the Cardinals were able to sneak in a goal in the 44^th minute for a 1-0 half time lead.

In the 51^st minute, Guzman made a tremendous diving save to his left to keep his team in the game. Unfortunately, the offense squandered a number of breakout opportunities that would have pulled the game level. Also, a classic Mullane to DeAndre McLaurin (Joliet, IL/Joliet West) header was barely cleared off the line by the Cardinals' keeper in the 59^th minute. The rest of the half belonged to the Cardinals as they outshot the Cougars 15-6 in the second half and scored on a breakaway off a Cougar free kick in the 87^th minute to make the final margin 2-0.

The Cougars host Lakeland College on Sunday, October 12. Kickoff is at 3:30 following the women's game.