2021-22 Moments of the Year (No. 5): A Pair of NACC Regular Season Titles
MEQUON, Wis. – The 2021-22 athletic year was another successful one for the Concordia Wisconsin Athletic Department. The Falcons won and contended for conference championships in many sports and put together an impressive list of great achievements. As in years past, the Department of Athletic Communications tries to sort through all the great moments and give you, the fans, top stories from the past year.
The list of stories was compiled by the Department of Athletic Communications and, like all lists, is subject to debate. The top stories will be revealed over the next few days, with stories being released on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The top story will be released on July 27.
The CUW women's soccer and men's basketball teams took home the NACC Regular season titles this season.
The Falcons claimed a share of the NACC crown in October with a 3-0 victory at Lakeland. The Falcons improved to 14-3 and 12-1 in the NACC to finish the regular season.
This matchup saw a 1-0 score for most of the game after senior Isabel Downs (Menominee Falls, Wis.) scored in the 24th minute off the foot of freshman Sheridan Dorge (Winnipeg, Man.).
This would be the winning goal in the 3-0 matchup.
The game would remain 1-0 until the 84th minute when junior Selena Esten (Cedarburg, Wis.) scored off a saved shot from sophomore Sabrina Moore (Park Ridge, Ill.).
The third goal was scored with 54 seconds left in regulation by Downs from junior Jordan Lafferty (Surprise, Ariz.).
Senior Kaeley Sterkel (Dana Point, Calif.) secured her eighth shutout of the season with one big save late in the match.
The CUW men's basketball team sealed the deal in February with a 90-74 victory at Dominican to clinch a share of the NACC regular-season title with Concordia Chicago and St. Norbert at 11-6.
The Stars came out shining on Wednesday with an early 10-5 lead against the Falcons.
In the first half, senior Brandon Keller (Plymouth, Wis.) recorded his 600th career rebound.
The Falcons responded with a 12-0 run to take the lead and they never looked back.
The Blue and White built a double-digit lead with a layup from senior Jordan Johnson (Cedarburg, Wis.) at the 5:15 mark of the first half.
The birds cruised into halftime with a 47-34 lead.
The Stars did not surrender and trimmed the Concordia lead to eight points with 15:40 remaining.
A 9-1 run for Concordia sank the Stars and the Falcons flew out of Illinois with the victory.
The largest lead of the night was 21 points off a free throw from sophomore Freeman Jackson (Green Bay, Wis.).
Senior Joey Zietlow (Oak Creek, Wis.) shined bright against the Stars with a career-high 27 points.
Brandon Keller finished a rebound short of another double-double performance with a game-high nine rebounds and 16 points. Jordan Johnson added 15 points and junior Jared Jurss (Sheboygan, Wis.) finished with 11 points.
Senior Garrett Hoffmann (Belgium, Wis.) landed 10 points from the bench.
The Falcons dominated Dominican on the glass with a 52-32 rebounding advantage.
CUW also secured 20 assists with Jared Jurss leading the way with a game-high six assists.
This was the fifth NACC title for the Falcons and the 11th conference title on record.
2021-22 CUW Athletics Stories of the Year
HM: Dance Wins Conference
No. 5: A Pair of NACC Titles
No. 4: July 26
No. 3: July 26
No. 2: July 27
No. 1: July 27
