Concordia Soccer Team Finally Ends Long Slide

After a winless stretch that spanned 59 conference games--six full seasons without a victory--the Concordia men’s soccer team finally broke the streak Saturday when the Eagles defeated host Cal Baptist, 2-1.

Matt Stiles scored an unassisted goal in the 57th minute to break a 1-1 tie, and the Eagles held on for their first Golden State Athletic Conference victory since defeating Azusa Pacific, 3-0, six years ago to the day.

“I’d put [Saturday’s victory] up there with the most memorable ones in my career,” said Tim Odle, the team’s first-year coach. “A lot of people don’t realize what it really meant.

“I’ve had alumni calling me up, people I don’t even know, saying ‘That’s great, I can’t believe you guys won.’ Usually it’s people who either played here or really understand what the program has gone through recently.”

The Eagles were 3-14-2 last season, Ogle’s first as an assistant. They went 0-19 in 1993 and 1-17 in 1995. The best season in the program’s 12-year history was an 8-9-1 finish in 1989.

“But I thought we might break the [conference winless] streak against Cal Baptist because I knew we were getting close,” Ogle said. “We had just barely lost to Southern California College in double overtime and played Fresno Pacific really tough too. We were ready.”

Saturday’s victory also broke a 55-game conference losing streak. Concordia tied Point Loma Nazarene Oct. 3, 1992.

“We had to change the mentality of not just staying close, but going out to try and win,” Ogle said. “Before, a 1-0 loss was just like a win. Or if we’d go to Westmont and lose only 3-0 instead of getting kicked in the head, 6-0, or, 7-0, that was fine too.

“We needed to change all of that.”

In addition to the attitude adjustment, Ogle brought in new players with some firepower.

Freshman Josh Egan, one of 16 freshmen and sophomores on the team, had an assist in the victory over Cal Baptist and leads the team in scoring with six goals and two assists.

Another standout demonstrating the new attitude is walk-on Ryan Bailey.

“Ryan played here before, but he came back for this season and was in top shape when we started camp,” Ogle said. “He’s started every game for us.”

And after starting the season strong, including two consecutive victories in the consolation bracket of their tournament, the Eagles are trying to finish with a kick.

“I’ve always told the guys that after we get one win, we’ll get the second one,” Ogle said. “We have four more games to build on that.”