Men's Soccer huddle

ASC Preview: Men's Soccer enters with championship aspirations

11/1/2021 3:25:00 PM

AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas men's soccer team, who finished as the two seed in the conference for the second time in program history, will look to make another run in the American Southwest Conference Tournament on Tuesday, hosting Belhaven in a quarterfinal matchup at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.

The Tornados are coming off a historic regular season, finishing 9-4-3, 7-1-2 in conference play to secure the two seed in the conference and will be looking to reach their third-straight ASC Tournament title match.

Concordia Texas will open the tourney with a quarterfinal showdown against the seventh-seeded Blazers of Belhaven, who ended their year with a 6-8-1, 3-6-0 record, on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Round Rock, Texas.

It is the third year in a row the Tornados and Blazers will meet in an ASC Tournament quarterfinal with CTX having bested BU both times. Earlier this season, on Oct. 14, the two teams met and the Tornados walked away with a 5-0 victory, powered by a two-goal performance from Marco Vazquez.

Concordia Texas enters the tournament looking to start a new win streak after suffering their first loss of the year last Friday to the top seed in the ASC, Mary Hardin-Baylor. Prior to the defeat, the Tornados had won their previous six games and been unbeaten in their last nine, dating back to Sept. 19.

The team has been a juggernaut defensively throughout the year, posting six shutouts on the season and setting the program record for longest shutout streak.

From Sept. 25 to Oct. 21, CTX did not allow a goal, finishing with a shutout streak of 6:09:35 minutes, smashing the previous mark set back in 2009. Goalkeeper Joshua Redding has tallied 43 saves and posted a sub-1.00 goal against average in 14 starts.

Offensively, the Tornados have had a multitude of weapons led by the play of Marco Vazquez, who has scored at least one goal in five of his previous six appearances and leads the team in goals with 10 on the year.

For his career, Vazquez has tallied 24 goals in his three seasons with CTX, one away from tying the program record holder Omar Aguirre.

Xavier Polk and Melvin Molina will also be reliable offensive threats for the Tornados in their attack.

Polk has caught fire lately, scoring at least a goal in four of his last six games and is second on the team with five goals. Molina, meanwhile, has been a key cog for CTX all season, setting the program's single-season assists record with nine on the year as well as finding the back of the net five times.

The Tornados will look to continue their postseason success at the ASC Tournament, having reached the conference championship game the last two seasons, searching for the program's first-ever ASC title.

Concordia Texas will begin their conference tournament journey on Tuesday, hosting Belhaven in a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Round Rock, Texas. The winner will move on to the semifinals round for a matchup against the winner between UT Dallas and LeTourneau on Friday in Belton, Texas.
 
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