RIVER FOREST, ILL. -- The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's soccer team celebrated senior day in a dominant fashion, earning the 4-1 victory over the Marian Unviersity Sabres. Before the game, the Cougars honored their lone senior in
Jefferson Garcia (Crystal Lake, Ill.) for his contributions to the CUC soccer program. After celebrating Garcia, he made the most of the day, picking up the first goal of the day.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Chase Zizak (Muskegon, Mich.) played all 90 minutes in the goal and collected six saves.
- Four Cougars scored in the victory with Garcia picking up one goal on two shots, Roman Klozik (New Lenox, Ill.) picking up one goal on one shot, Alexander Barrera (Chicago, Ill.) picking up one goal on two shots, and Cristian Barajas Vargas (Cicero, Ill.) picking up one goal on one shot.
- Three Cougars picked up assists on the day in Ronald Bardales (Zion, Ill.), Giovanni Flores (Chicago, Ill.), and Damian Navas (Chicago, Ill.).
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The Cougars got to work right away with the first shot of the day coming from Garcia. With momentum on their side, the Cougars continued to press offensively and move quickly down the field. Bardales would find some space in the middle of the field and fire a shot from just outside the box, giving the Cougars a corner kick. Leonardo Pedraza's corner kick would go off the head of the Sabres and give CUC another chance where he would give space for Evin Perez (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Pierre Balderas (Tlaxcala, Mexico) opportunities to score. A free kick for the Cougars from the 20-yard line would give Pedraza a chance to launch a shot that would miss high. Strong defense from Alberto Sanchez () would steal possession and send the ball downfield for Bardales to feed it inside the box, finding Garcia for the first goal of the day.
- The rest of the half would be a back-and-forth game, with the Cougars picking up three more shots and keeping the Sabres scoreless through the first 45 minutes.
SECOND HALF
- The Cougars would once again start aggressive on the offensive side and find early success after a corner from the far side of the field would get batted around in the box before Barrera would have his first shot blocked and follow up with a roller to the bottom left of the net, securing the second goal of the game.
- A throw in on the near side would find Flores in motion who would send it into the box and find the right foot of Klozik, driving it to the bottom right corner of the net.
- The Sabres would put one goal away in the 74th minute, but the Cougars would answer back right away after Navas would find Barajas Vargas in motion and slide it in the lower left side.
The Cougars will close out the regular season on their home turf, facing off against Dominican University at 2:00 PM. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
