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Concordia University Chicago Athletics

Home of the Concordia-Chicago Cougars

Spencer Nicholson
1
Kuyper KUY (0-2-0, 0-0-0)
3
Winner Concordia Chicago CUC (1-2-0, 0-0-0)
Kuyper KUY
(0-2-0, 0-0-0)
1
Final
3
Concordia Chicago CUC
(1-2-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Kuyper KUY 0 1 1
Concordia Chicago CUC 2 1 3

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Kayla McCloud, Director of Athletic Communications

Cougars Find First Victory In Dominating Fashion

RIVER FOREST, ILL. – For the first time since October of 2022, the Concordia University Chicago men's soccer team took victory after downing the Kuyper Cougars in a dominating 3-1 fashion.
 
INSIDE THE BOX
  • Garrett Poynter (Noblesville, Ind.) led the way with one goal on six total shots, two of which were on goal.
  • Spencer Nicholson (Fort Collins, Colo.) followed behind with one goal of his own on two shots, both on frame.
  • The last Cougar to score on the day was Omar Figueroa (Chicago, Ill.), picking up his first goal in the maroon and gold on one shot on the day.
  • José García (Aurora, Ill.), Vicente Romero (Crystal Lake, Ill.), and Xavier Avila (Berwyn, Ill.) each picked up an assist on the day.
  • Nethan Gudiel (Chicago, Ill.) made his first career start in goal while Chase Zizak (Muskegon, Mich.) secured the lone save in the goal on the day.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
CUC took a quick jump to start the game took the first shot less than five minutes into play, resulting in the first corner kick for the home team. Two consecutive offside calls in favor of CUC kept the visiting Cougars off the board as it approached the halfway mark of the first half. As CUC continued to play a fast paced style of soccer, a quick break down the left side of the field would result in a nearside corner kick for CUC. A well-placed ball to the far side of the goal area would find the head of Nicholson who would drive it to the opposite upper corner and pick up the first goal of the game.
 

Less than two minutes later, Concordia would take advantage of a sleeping Kuyper defense. A long ball from Garcia, sent from the opposite 25-yard line, would find Poynter breaking just behind a defender to stay onside and have a one-on-one opportunity with the visiting goalkeeper. As Poynter secured a touch before the visiting keeper, he would find a clear path to goal and tap it into the back of the net.
 

After going up 2-0 in the first half, Concordia continued to press ahead and in find their third and final goal in the 70th minute. A through-ball from Filip Tokarz (Bartlett, Ill.) would find the foot of Cristian Ibarra (Aurora, Ill.) and leave the one-touch pass to the far side of the field open for Romero to feed it to Figueroa who would put one up on the upper near-side net for goal number three on the day.
 

Kuyper wouldn't quite back down after falling behind 3-0 and steal a goal back, but the hometown Cougars would find victory and secure the 3-1 win after 90 minutes.
 
WHAT COACH CALLAHAN HAD TO SAY:
"It feels great," Head Coach Brad Callahan noted on the team's first win. "It builds confidence going forward, getting that weight off our shoulders. We played well today, definitely some things to improve upon, but to get the first win feels good. A big thing I'm looking at is just the consistency of the guys. A lot of the guys are capable of doing great things, but it's just the consistency".
 
The Cougars will be back in action on Friday for their last non-conference matchup of the season against Hope College as they continue to defend their home turf in River Forest. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 pm while all coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
 
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