August 29, 2016- The pre-season is finally over! After  a long summer and a grind over the last few weeks, the Concordia University Chicago fall sports are ready to take action. This week will see every fall sport except Women's Tennis in action beginning Thursday with Women's soccer

Women's Soccer- They begin their second season under the direction of Chris Brown. They have looked sharp through their first two pre-season matches, and look to carry that momentum into the first week of the season. They open up in Concordia Stadium on Thursday against Illinois College at 5pm, then hit the road against Simpson in Rockford, Ill. on Saturday. The Cougars last faced Illinois College in 2014 on the road in a match CUC lost by a final of 1-0. CUC faced Simpson for the first time in Women's Soccer last year and took the match 1-0 behind a 23^rd minute Sydney Fuller goal.

Volleyball- The young Cougar Volleyball team gets their season started with two straight weeks on the road. It begins this week with a road trip to Jacksonville, Illinois for a four match weekend. They begin with Illinois College, and Missouri Valley College on Saturday, then they conclude the weekend with Simpson College and Mac Murray College on Sunday afternoon.  The only opponent of the weekend that the Cougars have any recent history with is Illinois College, who they played in a three set match last season

Cross Country- The cross country team hits the road for their first meet of the year. They head to Elmhurst and Eldridge Park on Friday night to kick off the 2016 season. Entering his 20^th season at CUC head coach Dave Risch has a team of 25 athletes (10 men, 15 women).

Football- They look to rebound after a tough 2015 season when they open up at home on Saturday at 1pm against Ripon College. The young Cougar team will take on a Ripon team that finished 7-3 a season ago. The Cougars have 10 seniors on this seasons roster. They will look to make a difference using their speed on the outside in Rashad Lofton and Ryan Allison.

Men's Soccer- Look to continue their growth after a good showing in the pre-season. They head to Indiana for two matches to begin their 2016 campaign. Bluffton University will be the first opponent in a neutral site game, and Manchester University will be the Sunday match. This will be the first time the Cougars will face off against Bluffton in men's soccer. CUC last played Manchester in 2013 on the road where CUC won by a 3-1 decision.

GO COUGARS!