Spartans Bow Out With Tough Home Loss

AURORA, Ill. November 1, 2006 - The Aurora University men's soccer team lost a tough game on Wednesday afternoon, falling to Concordia (WI) 1-0. The loss came in the opening round of the Northern Athletics Conference tournament, and marks the end of the Spartans' season.

Both teams played a very physical game with three yellow cards being issued. The physical play illustrated the tough defense played by both sides, but Concordia (WI) managed to find the back of the net early in the second half to go ahead. The goal came off of a corner kick as Mike Bruckner connected with Brian Nord at the 48:25 mark.

Falcon goalkeeper Thomas Anderson stopped six Spartan shots in his shutout victory, while Spartan goalkeeper Jon Unruh had three saves in the losing effort.

The loss brings to an end a very successful 2006 regular season campaign for the Spartans, who are 12-4-4, and were 8-1 during regular season NAC play. Concordia moves on to play in the Championship game of the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament on Saturday, November 4, 2006 against the winner of the Edgewood College and Dominican University semi-final.