Men's Soccer comes up short against No. 6 Stars

MEQUON, Wis. – For the third consecutive season, Concordia University Wisconsin's men's soccer program gave Northern Athletics conference powerhouse Dominican University all they could handle, but came up just short.

The No. 6-ranked Stars (13-2-1, 9-0-0 NAC) punched in the winning goal with just 2:10 remaining for a 2-1 victory over the Falcons at Fitting Field on Saturday.

The victory moved DU's unbeaten streak in conference play to a national best 100-consecutive games. The Stars are a remarkable 95-0-5 against league opponents since 2004.

Goalkeeper Sam Ische (senior, Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and the Falcon defense withstood an early test that saw DU take five corner kicks during an eight-minute span.

The Falcons were able to spin the momentum with a pair of great scoring chances from freshman Keegan Van Dusseldorp (Burlington, Wis.) and senior Tyler Harris (De Pere, Wis.) at the thirty minute mark.

From that point forward, CUW controlled the momentum for most of the remainder the first half.

Concordia apppeared to have scored shortly after halftime, but the goal was waved off on an offside call. 

The Stars got the first score of the match at 60:24 on a header by Leo Elizalde that Ische got a glove on, but couldn't punch over the cross bar.

CUW tied the game on a Kyle Sytsma (senior, Antioch, Ill.) direct kick from just outside the box at 78:08 in the second period.

At that point, overtime seemed imminent, but the Stars had other ideas, scoring the game winner on a break-away tally in the 88th minute.

Ische recorded 10 saves, but DU held avantages in shots (23-13) and corner kicks (12-5).

CUW returns to action on Monday at Wisconsin Lutheran College. The NAC matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m.