(Ann Arbor, MI) - Concordia Men's Soccer returned to Ferry Field at Cardinal Stadium for one last regular season match as they hosted the Cougars from Cleary. In the last regular season match for the Cardinals, both sides played tight defensively, and ultimately earned a 0-0 draw with the Cardinals playing down a man for 80 minutes.
The Cardinals faced an uphill battle after they received a red card five minutes into the match and were forced to play the next 80 minutes down a man. Despite playing with 10 men, the Cardinals continued to get looks on goal with Marlon Rataj forcing a save off of his header and then Lucas Anderson putting a shot from distance over the crossbar. Cleary went on to get some chances, forcing Kyri Wixom to make a pair of saves and even putting one off of the woodwork. Ultimately, neither side was able to break through in the first half and the sides headed into the dressing room at 0-0.
The Cardinals continued to pressure the Cougars in the second half as Carter Kerbawy intercepted a pass from the Cleary keeper and found Ignacio Lopez who fired a shot wide. Later in the half Kyri Wixom was forced to make a diving save to his left to just punch the ball wide of the post. The Cardinals followed that with a run of successive corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize from them. Ignacio Lopez brought some more energy for the Cardinals atop their formation with a run deep into their attacking third, but was ultimately stopped by the Cleary defense. The Cards had a run of three chances when Bryce Schaner later found John Clark in the box who had a header saved, then Lucas Anderson had a shot blocked, followed by a Jan Lloveras Freix bicycle kick that strayed wide. Elijah Macke subbed in for the Cardinals and nearly scored after receiving an Evan Lock throw in. Then, in the final five minutes Cleary was awarded a red card after Bryce Schaner possessed the ball and put the ball into the back of the net, but was called offside, erasing the goal. Kyri Wixom made a final save down the stretch to keep the match scoreless, where it would finish. Wixom ended the day with 5 saves.
