Warriors Fall to Concordia; Shift Focus to Postseason

SEWARD, Neb. – Midland University returned to action for its final regular-season Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) contest of the year as they traveled to face Concordia University on Wednesday. A win could have clinched a share of the GPAC title, but it was not to be, as Concordia's offense and the wet conditions dampened the Warriors' title hopes as they picked up a 6-2 victory. With the result, Midland finishes tied for third in the conference standings and will be the fourth seed in the GPAC Tournament while Concordia moves up to the second seed.

Midland started strong, taking the first four shots in the opening 13 minutes. The scoring began when Brandon Toledo crossed the ball into the box, finding Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran, who acrobatically left his feet and delivered a powerful bicycle kick into the net in the 14th minute.

The lead was short-lived, as the Bulldogs responded just 11 seconds later. Martin Herrera found the back of the net with a long-range shot, leveling the game at 1-1 in the 14th minute.

The scoring continued just three minutes later when Adnan Boulaghmal put Midland ahead again. After Concordia mishandled the ball in the box, Boulaghmal seized the opportunity, blasting it past the keeper to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the 17th minute.

Concordia answered once more in the 27th minute. A free kick shot on goal was saved by Hugo Sjoeberg, but he couldn't control the rebound, allowing Wokutch to tap in the equalizer, bringing the score to 2-2.

The Bulldogs kept pressing and took the lead in the 35th minute when D'Andre Williams scored from a long-range free kick, sending Concordia into halftime up 3-2. Despite outshooting the Bulldogs 9-6 in the first half, Midland couldn't match Concordia's clinical finishing, as the Bulldogs scored on half of their shots.

Concordia maintained the momentum, doubling their lead early in the second half. Martin Herrera placed a free kick from just outside the box into the top-right corner in the 51st minute.

The Bulldogs struck again in the 63rd minute. A corner kick found an unmarked Ferdi Hagen in the box, who directed the ball into the back of the net, extending their lead to 5-2.

Concordia capped the scoring just 49 seconds before the final whistle when a long ball reached Oliver Benson, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Benson slotted it home to seal the 6-2 victory, clinching the second seed in the GPAC tournament.

Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran scored his 12th goal of the season, finishing as the conference's top scorer with the highest point total. Teammate Adnan Boulaghmal earned his 10th goal, tying for second among the conference's top scorers.

Midland (8-6-4, 6-2-2 GPAC) will shift its focus to the opening round of the postseason which gets underway early next week. The 4th-seeded Warriors will host 5th-seeded Hastings (8-7-2, 6-2-2 GPAC) on Tuesday night in Fremont. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. on the turf at Heedum Field.