RIVER FOREST, ILL. — As Homecoming 2022 at Concordia University Chicago came to a close Sunday afternoon, the CUC men's soccer team (1-8-2, 1-5-2) played host to the Sabres of Marian University (6-5-2, 4-2-2). The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opponents battled back-and-forth for 90 minutes, eventually ending in a 1-1 tie.
Inside the Box Score
- Brayan Gonzalez (Glendale Heights, Ill.) opened up the scoring in the match with his goal at the 24:57 mark. It was goal number one on the year for the junior.
- Sophomore Garrett Poynter (Noblesville, Ind.) supplied offensive pressure all game, finishing with three shots, two of which were on goal.
- Senior goalkeeper Nicholas Pasut (New Boston, Mich.) finished the day with six saves against one goal allowed.
Marian came out of the gates firing, putting four shots on net within the first 20 minutes. Pasut stood tall however, stonewalling all four attempts.
The Cougars were finally able to make Sabre goalie Aaron Perez work when their first shot on goal came at 19:29 off the foot of Oscar Montejano (Zion, Ill.). Perez made short work of the shot, as he did again a couple minutes later on an attempt from Spencer Nicholson (Fort Collins, Colo.).
Concordia was finally able to sneak one past Perez 24:57 into the game when Gonzalez headed a perfect pass from Montejano into the back of the net, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Defenses took over for the last 20 minutes of the first half, as only two shots were put on goal. Poynter was responsible for both.
Much like the start of the game, Marian opened the second half with a flurry of chances. A shot from Isak Olsson to the top of the net looked destined to score, but CUC midfielder Jaun Valencia (Chicago, Ill.) was able to get all the way up to deflect the ball with a header right before it crossed the goal line.
Olsson almost got his goal in the end, but his shot at the 60:11 mark rang off the right pipe of the net. The goal posts weren't done for the day, as a follow-up shot from Sabre Max Kauffman pinged the crossbar, holding the score at 1-0 in favor of the Cougars.
Luck finally turned to Marian's side 75:45 into the game. Drew Cowden used some fancy footwork to get himself into a pristine scoring area before firing the ball past Pasut, tying the game at 1-1.
The Sabres would muster up one more shot on goal when Israel Duran's shot was saved by Pasut at the 78:53 mark. Concordia's last chance came with 17 seconds left on the clock, when a Montejano header traveled wide right of the net by just a foot or two. The ensuing goal kick from Marian made it as far as the midfield line before the final buzzer rang, finalizing the 1-1 tie.
CUC will be back in action this Wednesday, Oct. 9 when the Cougars welcome Moody Bible Institute to River Forest. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m., and coverage of the match can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
