“It was a physical game but it was also a national tournament caliber game for us,” CU head coach Dan Birkey said. “This is a team that scored three goals on a NCAA Division I team and has put on a great run recently. It was a good statement from our players to hold off that off for 90 minutes.”

 

The Cavaliers’ lone goal came off a penalty kick in the 40th minute from senior midfielder Facundo Dipascuale.

 

“It was a handball in the box that Septi [Danciu] earned for us,” said Dipascuale about the penalty. “I was just the one responsible for putting it in.”

 

Dipascuale shot the ball across the ground into the left corner of the net underneath the diving Trinity Western goalie.

 

After the goal, the responsibility fell on the defense to preserve the lead. Led by newcomers Tanner French and goalie Humberto Soriano, the Cavaliers proved up to the task.

 

A couple of times in the first half, it looked like Trinity had golden opportunities to put a goal in and take what then would have been a lead. The first such chance came in the 18th minute when third-year Spartans forward Spencer Schmidt put a shot on goal that Soriano saved. However, Trinity would have had a much better follow, but the Cavaliers cleared the ball to force a corner kick instead. The Spartans managed another shot on goal following the corner, but were ultimately denied.

 

Trinity’s best chance for a goal came a little later in the 35th minute when a shot from third-year forward Dani Parker barely hit the crossbar, bouncing almost straight down in front of the goal. Schmidt was there to follow it, but the Concordia defense again got the better of him and cleared the ball before anyone could punch it in.

 

When the teams went to half, Trinity Western had a large lead in shots (9-to-5), in spite of the 1-0 score.

 

“Our communication was a bit sluggish early on and were fortunate they didn’t break us down early in the game,” Birkey said. “As the game went on we started talking more and making cerebral decisions and that was a major key in beating a very good club today.”

 

The CU offense picked it up as well in the second half, putting up 10 shots, doubling their total from the first half.

 

Soriano really started to fly around in the second half as well, jumping to corral several balls played into the box.

 

“Humberto came up with some big saves,” Birkey said. “He was rangy on some dangerous crosses out there while we got a good solid performance from our back line.”

 

Soriano even put his body on the line on one ball with about five minutes left in the game. He stayed on the ground for a minute or two, but got up and didn’t miss a beat of the action.

 

Trinity Western managed two more threats in the final minutes, the first coming when Spartan forward Schmidt launched a bicycle kick from 15 yards directly on goal in the 80th minute that Soriano caught. Schmidt threatened again in the 88th minute, pounding a ball from twenty yards out from the right that Soriano dove to save and punched over the net. The Spartans couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing corner kick, though, and Concordia dribbled out the win.

 

For the game, the teams played to a near draw in shots with Trinity Western taking home just two more than Concordia (17-to-15). CU did put more on goal though (7-to-4), but the Spartans also had more corners (6-to-4). As a sign of the physical nature of the game, both teams combined for 32 fouls, 17 for Trinity and 15 for Concordia.

 

In goal, CU keeper Soriano gets the shutout with four saves, while fifth-year keeper Andrew Kowan recorded six saves for the Spartans.

 

Concordia next plays on the road at Holy Names University on Saturday, September 3.