River Forest, Ill. -- The Concordia University Chicago men's soccer team wrapped up their regular season on Wednesday with a trip down the road to take on the Stars of Dominican University. The team needed a win or draw to play themselves into the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament, but came up short by a final score of 2-0. 

It was a tightly contested affair throughout the match. The Stars scored in the 25th minute and rode that 1-0 lead all the way to the halftime locker room. Junior goalkeeper Joseph Perez (Crystal Lake, Ill.) made three saves in the first 45 minutes to keep things within reach.

The only goal scored in the second half came on a penalty kick in the 61st minute. Outside of that, it was fellow junior goalkeeper Nicholas Pasut (New Boston, Mich.) who made four saves of his own to keep the pressure on Dominican. 

In the end, the Cougars couldn't quite find the equalizer on the offensive end. They received shots on goal from senior Ryan Kuhlman (Darien, Ill.), junior German Tinoco (Lyons, Ill.) and freshman Giovanni Velasquez (Cicero, Ill.), but all were saved. 

There was no quit in the team and they applied pressure until the very end. The shots from Kuhlman and Velasquez both came in the final 10 minutes as the team tried to claw their way back in. 

Despite the loss, the Cougars got the help they needed to ensure this special season will live on. Benedictine University defeated Aurora University prior to the end of the Cougars' battle with Dominican to lock up the sixth seed for CUC.

It will be those same Benedictine Eagles who the Cougars will battle with in Saturday's round one matchup. The third-seeded Benedictine will host the sixth-seeded Concordia in Lisle, Ill., this Saturday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. 

A stream to the game will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.