Two goals in the first eight minutes powered the Gustavus men’s soccer team past Concordia 2-0 Saturday afternoon. Tim Gendron (Burnsville, Minn.) and Ryan Beduhn (St. Cloud, Minn.) put the Gusties on the board as the team never looked back. Luke Strom (Plymouth, Minn.) posted his second shutout of the season.
Coach Zelenz’s squad applied pressure early as Sam Barthell (Bloomington, Minn.) made a direct shot on net forcing Cobber goalkeeper Kirby Johnson to dive to his left to make the save one minute into the match. That save would be the end of Johnson’s good fortune.
Minutes later, Mike Butterworth (Katy, Tex.) pushed the ball up the left side of the field before passing across the penalty box. Johnson dove to stop the pass, but came up short with Gendron crashing on the open net for the goal at 4:47.
With play being controlled in the Cobber zone, Matt Strom (Plymouth, Minn.) served up a ball moving from right to left. The pass found Beduhn streaking in for a header that found the bottom right corner of the net.
Both goals proved to be enough as Concordia was only able to get four shots compared to 24 for the Gusties. Strom faced few tests on two shots, but earned the shutout. Johnson finished the match with seven saves. Gustavus also held a 12-2 advantage in corner kicks with seven coming in the first half.
Gustavus now has a 2-0 MIAC record and 5-1 record overall. Concordia moves to 0-2 in MIAC play and 1-5 overall. Gustavus continues action tomorrow against Luther in a key non-conference match at 4:00 pm. The Gusties will resume MIAC play Saturday, September 22 against last year’s co-MIAC conference champion Saint John’s in Collegeville at 4:00 pm.