FOND DU LAC, Wis. – On Wednesday night, the Concordia University Wisconsin men's soccer team improved to 3-8-2 overall and 3-6-0 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play after securing a 4-2 victory against the Marian University Sabres.
The scoring opened in the seventh minute when Fond du Lac native and senior Carlos Valdivia netted his first career goal, giving CUW an early 1-0 lead. Valdivia's goal was set up by senior Alishan Sharipov from (Krasnodor, Russia) and sophomore Vladimir Campos (Milwaukee, Wis).
The Falcons continued to pressure the Marian defense, registering shots on goal in the 15th, 17th, 33rd, 34th, and 44th minutes. However, Marian goalkeeper Connor Farrell made several crucial saves, keeping the score at 1-0 at halftime.
Just two minutes and 23 seconds into the second half, junior Carson Kelly, another Fond du Lac local, extended CUW's lead to 2-0, with freshman Huba Hajdu (Las Vegas, Nev.) providing the assist.
Marian quickly responded, scoring in the 50th minute to narrow the gap to 2-1.
Undeterred, the Falcons struck back with two goals in quick succession: the first from Sharipov in the 56th minute, assisted by junior Lukas Olson (Eau Claire, Wis.), and the second from Olson himself in the 58th minute, with Sharipov returning the favor. This established a commanding 4-1 lead for CUW.
Although Marian scored once more, it proved to be too late, as Concordia sealed the 4-2 road victory.
Alishan Sharipov had a standout performance, recording a career-high three assists and one goal for a total of five points. Olson also made his mark, achieving his first points of the season with a goal and an assist—his first contributions since October 2023.
As a team, the Falcons registered a season-high 14 shots, with an impressive 11 on target.
Junior Jeremy Munoz (Milwaukee, Wis.) earned the win, making five saves in 86 minutes of play, while junior Enrique Torres from Eau Claire added one save during his brief appearance in goal.
The Falcons will look to build on this momentum when they host the Cougars of Concordia Chicago on Saturday.
