Oct. 14, 2015 - Tonight's men's soccer match between the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and Benedictine Eagles had all the competitiveness and intensity of a true rivalry game. Both teams entered play tonight in need of a win to position themselves better for a conference tournament push. In the end, it was the Cougars who bettered their chances with an exciting 2-1 victory.

"It's always tough to win on this field," said CUC head coach Micah Middendorf, referring to Benedictine's Sports Complex. "But we fought hard and found a way to win, and that makes this one tonight very special."

The Eagles had most of the early chances including a header by Nick Kapetanos that was blocked in a crowd in front of the goal. But it was the Cougars that produced the first goal of the match in the 20th minute. Roberto Avila (Cicero, IL/Morton East) controlled the ball on the left side and slid a pass thrrough the box. Fabian Robles (Cicero, IL/St. Joseph), trailing the first wave of attakers, ran onto Avila's pass and slotted the ball from eight yards past Eagles' keeper Zorohn Reed for the 1-0 edge.

Two minutes later, CUC had an excellent chance to double the lead when a trip in the box set up a penalty kick. Avila took the kick, but Reed dove to his right to mke the save and keep it a one-goal game.

Late in the half, a high cross in front of the Cougars' net drew a foul. This time, it was Benedictine that was awarded the penalty kick. Francisco Delgado stepped to the spot and drilled the shot inside the left post to knot the game at 1-1. The half would end with that score, with Benedictine holding a 6-4 edge in shots.

The second half began with the Cougars seizing some momentum. Six minutes in, their efforts earned a corner kick. Avila took the corner which landed right in front of the goal. With several players trying to control the ball, it was freshman Aleksander Grabowski (Elmwood Park, IL/H.S.) who made contact and poked the ball into the right side of the net from five yards out for his first career goal and the 2-1 lead.

The final 30 minutes of play saw both teams' intensity level rise with several cautions issued. The Eagles pressed the issue in search of the tying goal, and the Cougars were forced to fight off two great attempts. The first came in the 79th minute as Kapetanos hit the crossbar from about 20 yards out. The rebound came to Delgado whose shot was saved by Jorge Guzman (Cicero, IL/Morton East). The second came in the final 10 seconds as Gio Ovalle got his foot on a corner kick and shot just wide of the right post.

Benedictine took 13 shots in the second half to CUC's six, requiring Guzman to make five of his six saves. "Jorge was fantastic tonight. His steadiness and calm demeanor really held us together," said Middendorf.

Concordia-Chicago (6-7-1, 2-4-0 NACC) will look for their third straight win on Saturday afternoon when they play at Rockford University.