River Forest, Ill. -- It was a Senior Day to remember for the Concordia University Chicago men's soccer team (7-4-2, 4-2-2) on Saturday, as they kicked off the day's homecoming festivities with an impressive 4-0 win over the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors (5-9-0, 3-5-0).
All tied up at zero entering the half, the team honored its seniors: forward Dominick Christiansen (Plainfield, Ill.), defender Fabian Aranda (Warrenville, Ill.), forward Ryan Kuhlman (Darien, Ill.), midfielder Joel Diaz (Chicago, Ill.), defender Damian Rojas (Joliet, Ill.), and defender Andrew Lechuga (El Monte, Calif.).
It was clear the group of seniors were inspired by the halftime ceremony, as they took matters into their own hands to lead the four-goal scoring parade in the second half.
Kuhlman, the Cougars' leading goal scorer on the season, recorded his second-career hat trick over the final 45 minutes of action. He scored in a variety of ways, including a header off of a corner kick in the 80th minute to secure the hat trick in spectacular fashion before exiting the game to a thunderous applause from the Concordia Stadium crowd. His memorable performance brings his career goal total to 17.
It was fellow senior Diaz who put a bow on the game, finding the back of the net in the 86th minute for his second-career goal. The other came in the 2021 season opening match at Elmhurst. Diaz also showed off his precision passing, setting up Kuhlman's third goal with a perfectly placed corner kick.
Rojas also worked his way onto the stat sheet, assisting on the goal by Diaz.
The defensive effort was strong all around for CUC. The Warriors managed only nine total shots, just two of which were on goal. The goalkeeping tandem of juniors Joseph Perez (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Nicholas Pasut (New Boston, Mich.) were only forced to make one combined save.
Sophomore Grayden McClellan (Itasca, Ill.) also added an assist on the game's first goal.
The red-hot Cougars, winners of four in a row, will be back in action this Monday, Oct. 18, at home against the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and a stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
