Indiana Tech 2, Concordia 1

(November 4, 2008 - Ann Arbor, Mich.) - The Concordia men's soccer team went into their final game of the season looking for their first conference victory and third overall win of the year. The much improved Cardinals will have to wait until next year for that elusive WHAC win, as they fell to visiting Indiana Tech 2-1.

The Cardinals (0-10-2, 2-10-3) fell behind early in the game on a successful header by Indiana Tech's Chris Albers that found the top left corner of the net just two minutes into the contest. The assist came off a corner kick by teammate Tom Pichersgill.

The Warrior's lead would be short-lived as Concordia would step up the offensive pressure and eventually tie the game on a Yonathan Zeleke (Fr. - Lansing, Mich) goal that was set up by Ali Badra (So. - Niamey, Niger). The score at the 8:49 mark would be the freshman's third and final of the season.

The home team stayed aggressive through the rest of the first half but could not take advantage of a few quality scoring chances. The best opportunity came with 11 minutes to go, when Badra failed to take advantage of a keeper give-away and fired a shot high and wide. The game would enter the intermission tied at one.

With both teams pressing to score the go-ahead goal, the keepers faced twice the amount of shots in the second half as compared to the opening half. Indiana Tech (4-8, 8-8-2) had two solid scoring chances halfway through the second half, but they would be turned away by Concordia's goalkeeper Brian Kressbach. The junior from Clinton Township came up with back-to-back saves to keep the game tied at one.

The Warriors would eventually score the game winning goal with less than 12 minutes to play on a Mark Baptist header that made its way past Kressbach to the back of the net. The goal put an end to any hopes the Cardinals had of securing a conference victory.

Even thought the Cardinals would not finish the season with a conference win, the team made significant strides towards becoming a team that can make a playoff push next season. Having been outscored 9-66 a year ago, the young team played opponents much closer this season decreasing the goal deficit to 10-35 in route to three ties and two wins.