RIVER FORST, Ill. -- In their first shutout victory since Sept. 22, 2018, the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team kicked off the 2019 season in electrifying fashion with a 4-0 win over Moody Bible Institute.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- CUC and the Archers shared possession 50/50 throughout tonight's contest.
- Freshman John Walsh had an incredible collegiate debut, with one goal and two assists.
- Gerardo Medina and Michael Bogart tabbed a goal and an assist each, while Dominick Christiansen also had a goal. Both Bogart and Christiansen recorded their first points for Concordia-Chicago during tonight's win.
- All four of CUC's netminders appeared in the combined shutout, each recording at least one save.
The Cougars wasted no time tonight, as Medina found Walsh in just the third minute of the match to take an early 1-0 lead. With a long cross from the far side, Walsh timed up Medina's pass, despite being heavily defended by the Archers, and tapped in the ball with his left foot.
Just four minutes later, Medina would net a goal of his own as a defensive miscue from Moody Bible allowed
Ryan Kuhlman to push the ball back up into the attacking zone. As Kuhlman steadied play, he found Bogart who managed to move the ball around a few Archers, before dishing an assist off to Medina for the 2-0 advantage.
While commanding 52 percent of the first half possessions CUC did not let up on Moody Bible, despite the early lead. With nine first half shots, Bogart notched his first career goal in the 27th minute of play. Soon after, Christiansen would score the fourth and final goal of the day after a shot fired from Walsh bounced off the post and lined up the perfect ball for Christiansen to take.
Despite falling behind a thick deficit, the Archers came out of the halftime break re-energized. Earning a penalty kick in the 47th minute, Moody Bible seemed to hold their first true chance at a goal before
Panagiotis Zervas made back-to-back unbelievable stops in net to preserve the shutout.
Although the Archers out shot the Cougars 11-8 in the second half, solid defense and stellar goalkeeping kept Moody Bible at bay and allowed CUC to run away with the 4-0 opening day victory.
Concordia-Chicago will return to the pitch on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. to take on Lake Forest College.
