(Ann Arbor, MI) Concordia Men's Soccer returned to their home pitch Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference matchup against St. Francis (Indiana). The Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead in the first half, which the Cougars were able to come back and tie shortly after halftime. Concordia then surged past St. Francis with two more goals to win the match 4-2.
The Cardinals drew first blood about 15 minutes into the game when a long throw in from Evan Lock ended up at the feet of Ignacio Lopez who put it past the Cougar keeper to give Concordia the lead. Concordia continued to keep the pressure on St. Francis when the Cardinals maintained possession after a corner and Evan Lock was able to tuck a shot into the left post to double the lead. The Cougars were able to get one back before halftime when Nicolas Balbin scored after the Cardinals tried to clear a shot off of the goal line.
Just a minute and a half into the second, St. Francis kept their momentum when Francisco Moura was on the receiving end of a pass inside which he scored to equalize the game. Concordia was able to respond with a corner sent in by Marlon Rataj which Evan Lock headed in for the go-ahead goal. St. Francis' Bryan Ramirez was shown a second yellow card, forcing the Cougars to play with 10 men for the final five minutes. With under two minutes remaining, Nicholas Kiafoulis took the ball away from a Cougar centerback and beat the keeper to secure the 4-2 Cardinal win. Kyri Wixom finished the match with 2 saves in goal.
The Cardinals will take to the road this weekend when they travel to Goshen for a 5:00 pm kickoff on Saturday, August 24th.
