RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- With their first ever NACC playoff game on the horizon, the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team will prepare to travel to Benedictine University, tomorrow, for a Saturday afternoon tilt. While the Cougars were originally predicted to finish 11th this season, the team has concluded the regular season with a 9-8 overall record and finished 6-5 in conference play to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2005.
Game time is slated to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow, with live stats and video available at
cucougars.com/coverage.
Last Time Out... Closing out the NACC regular season, the Cougars took on MSOE in a snowy battle at Concordia Stadium. After an icy first half, CUC and the Raiders were tied 0-0 until MSOE found the back of the net in the 63rd minute of play. The Raiders would tack on one more goal before the end of regulation to win it 2-0. Freshman goalkeeper
Joseph Perez had a career-high nine saves for CUC.
Scouting the Eagles... With the Cougars traveling to Benedictine, the two NACC foes will have a battle between the number six and three seeds in the conference standings tomorrow. The Eagles ended the regular season with an 8-7-1 overall record and 8-3 conference ledger. Led by Lukasz Sulka (10 goals, six assists), the Eagles average 2.31 goals per game while holding opponents to 1.81 goals per match. Last time out against the Cougars, Benedictine won 3-0 off two goals from Hayden Van Son and one from Sulka. All-time, Benedictine leads the series 13-6-2.
Daily Dose of History... Concordia-Chicago and Benedictine have met once before in a playoff environment. Back in 2005, when both schools were members of the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference, the Cougars ousted the Eagles after a penalty kick shoot out to win the NIIC championship. After the match ended 2-2 in regulation, the Cougars went on to out-shoot the Eagles 3-2 in PK's to win it.
Well Spread... Taking a look at CUC's offense, fans would find one of the most well spread and balanced offenses in the conference. With 10 different goal scorers this season, no one Cougar has more than four goals to himself, as
Michael Bogart leads the squad with four goals and three assists. Just behind Bogart is
Gerardo Medina, who has four goals and two assists to date.
No Shot... Jose Retana remains one of the most elite goalkeepers in the nation, as the senior currently leads the NACC with 102 saves this season. Just behind Aurora's netminder, Retana is also second in the conference with a .797 save percentage, which is good for 93rd among the ranks in Division III men's soccer. Averaging 6.8 saves per game Retana ranks 25th nationally in saves per game too, as part of his incredible senior season. While he has led the Cougars to their best season in program history, he has also helped CUC capture its first ever wins against Illinois Tech and Edgewood College this season, while also earning himself seven wins for the Cougars in net. With his seven wins this season, Retana now holds the most of any goalkeeper, in a single season, in program history and brings his career wins total to nine, which is also good for Concordia men's soccer's new program record.
NACCtion... Along with the Cougars and Eagles, No. 5 Concordia Wisconsin will also take on No. 4 MSOE in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Between the two matchups, the winners will then prepare to face either No. 1 Dominican or No. 2 Aurora on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the semifinals. The NACC championship match will be played on Saturday, Nov. 9.
