Sept. 4, 2016 - The first weekend of the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer season saw two tightly-played contests with the 2016 Cougars getting used to new roles. While CUC's defense played well, the offense was unable to dent the net, and the result was an 0-2 weekend in North Manchester, IN after a 2-0 blanking by host Manchester University this afternoon.

Each team's first scoring opportunity came on a corner kick, with Roberto Avila (Cicero, IL/Morton East) firing wide off a cross by Arkadiusz Szlachta (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook). In the 13th minute, the Spartans found the back of the net  as Ben Niederhelman converted a pass from Tod Oram for the 1-0 lead.

Midway through the half, Avila had another chance only to see his shot blocked. Meanwhile, CUC keeper Zach Adamec (Louisville, KY/Butler Traditional) kept his team within a goal with a save on Niederhelman's try. However, the Spartans upped the lead to 2-0 in the 32nd minute when MU's Adrian Mulenga and Adamec converged on a ball in free space. Mulenga won the race and had an easy shot into an empty net.

Manchester had an early flurry in the second half, but CUC was able to weather the storm, helped out by Adamec who denied Niederhelman a chance for his second goal of the day. The Cougars regrouped as Avila continued to pester the Spartans' defense, although he was denied in the 57th minute by MU keeper Brady Forman. The Cougars kept working to pry the lid off the opponent's net, but Szlachta shot wide in one instance, and Daniel Hasko's (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) chance was saved by Forman.

The game ended with Manchester holding a 17-6 advantage in shots over Concordia-Chicago. Adamec was credited with three saves while Forman made two.

Concordia-Chicago will look for better results in Watertown, WI on Thursday when they play at Maranatha Baptist University The Cougars will then play their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 11 versus Illinois College.