MADISON, Wis. -- In a season full of broken records and new program heights, the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team can check one more item off its list, as the Cougars clinched their first ever NACC playoff berth this afternoon, in a convincing 3-0 victory over Edgewood College.
With a lot on the line, CUC showed no signs of nerves as they wasted no time getting on the board. Just seven minutes into the game, the Cougars earned a corner kick and would find a way to capitalize. As
Fabian Aranda took the serve, he dished a high floater into the box that
Alexis Gallegos got a head on and sneaked past Edgewood's netminder.
With a 1-0 lead early on,
Jose Retana shut down any threats from the Eagles and came up with three big saves to preserve the CUC advantage heading into the halftime break.
Coming out of halftime, Edgewood worked with a vengeance and looked to equalize. Despite out shooting the Cougars 9-6 in the second, CUC struck when it mattered most and rattled off two more goals down the stretch.
In the 72nd minute of play,
Michael Bogart found
Ryan Kuhlman off a clean cross to the near side, that Kuhlman managed to boot over the left hand side of the Eagles' keeper.
Kuhlman would prove to be the hero again, this time in the 78th minute, when his shot bounced off the post into his range, and he scored off the rebound to hand CUC a commanding 3-0 lead with 12 minutes to go.
Concordia's steady advantage proved to hold up, as CUC shut out the Eagles in pursuit of their first ever NACC playoff clinch.
The Cougars will return to the pitch for one last regular season tuneup before beginning the NACC playoffs on Sunday, Nov. 3. CUC will host MSOE at Concordia Stadium next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
