River Forest, Ill. -- It's playoff time for the Concordia University Chicago men's soccer team (9-6-2, 6-4-2) as they prepare for their trip to Lisle, Ill., to take on Benedictine University for round one of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament.
It's their third-straight trip to the conference tournament after qualifying for the first time back in 2019. The previous two trips were first round exits at the hands of Benedictine and Dominican, the latter of which came in overtime.
Their nine wins and six conference victories are both tied with the 2019 team for the most in program history. Their winning percentage of .588 and .583, respectively, were both the highest they've ever recorded.
How they got here
The Cougars kicked the season off with their first-ever win over Elmhurst University in thrilling fashion as junior Samuel Epperly (Elgin, Ill.) provided a game-winning goal in overtime to cap off his first game in a CUC uniform.
They kept the road warrior mentality alive 10 days later with a nail-biting 1-0 victory over Wheaton College, asserting their presence among the top teams in the area. It was again Epperly who provided the difference-making goal, this time in the first half.
Their first trip to Benedictine came in the conference opener, where a highlight goal from sophomore Grayden McClellan (Itasca, Ill.) in the second half evened things at two. The teams eventually played to a draw, CUC's first point earned against the Eagles in the previous seven tries.
The team entered October with a conference record of 1-2-2, but they quickly flipped the switch. Beginning with a match at Rockford on Oct. 6, the Cougars rattled off a program-record six-straight victories over the Regents, Marian, Moody Bible (non-conference), Wisconsin Lutheran, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), and Illinois Tech (IIT).
The win over MSOE was their first since 2004 and tied the program-record of five-consecutive wins. They then proceeded to come from behind on three different occasions before taking their first lead in the 86th minute on their way to defeating IIT and setting the new record.
What you need to know
The Cougars use a goalkeeping tandem of juniors Joseph Perez (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Nicholas Pasut (New Boston, Mich.). They rank first and fourth in save percentage in the NACC this year, respectively.
Senior forward Ryan Kuhlam (Darien, Ill.) leads the team with eight goals, highlighted by his second-career hat trick against Wisconsin Lutheran on his Senior Day. His 18 career goals place him fourth on the program's all-time leaderboard.
The defensive duo of sophomore Michael Frank (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and junior Michael Byron (Park Ridge, Ill.) logged the first and third most minutes on the team, respectively. Their durability has been crucial to holding down the back end of the Cougar defense.
The sibling duo of Oscar and Austin Montejano (Zion, Ill.) have also been crucial in this year's team taking the next step. Oscar, a sophomore, is second on the team in minutes, goals, and points. He led the comeback effort against IIT with a pair of second half goals. Austin, a junior, played the fourth most minutes and leads the team with five assists.
Meet the opponent
Benedictine finished with a record of 12-3-2, 9-2-1 in conference play. They finished tied with Dominican for second place, missing out on a bye due to a head-to-head loss. It's their ninth-straight appearance in the conference tournament, most recently winning the entire thing as the No. 2 seed in 2016.
They have scored 31 goals in conference play and allowed only 12, the second best margin in the NACC. Offensively they are led by Hayden Van Son, who led the conference with 13 goals.
Match information
Kick-off on Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.
A stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
