Lourdes opened the home portion of its 2020 season on Saturday evening, scoring a 1-0 victory over Concordia (Mich.) at Wildcat Stadium in a non-conference match between the two Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference foes.
 
The Gray Wolves and Cardinals will meet again on Oct. 24 in Ann Arbor, Mich. for the league contest.
 
"It is always difficult to get a win against a WHAC foe," head coach Matt Johnson said afterwards.  "This was a very physical contest.  Concordia is well organized, and they were difficult for us to break down, but I am pleased with the result."
 
A scoreless opening 45 minutes saw both teams attempt five shots, but neither side could find the back of the net.
 
Lourdes went a man up with just over 32 minutes to play in the contest following a Concordia red card, and immediately began to pressure.  Farouk Amoo (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood H.S.) appeared to put the Gray Wolves on top six minutes later with a bicycle kick from inside the box, but Cardinal netminder Ryan Webb made a leaping save to push the ball over the crossbar.
 
With 18 minutes to play, Anthony Samuel (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago/Chaguanas H.S.) was fouled in the penalty area and Brendon Long (Cave Creek, Ariz./Cactus Shadows H.S.) converted the penalty kick for what proved to be the lone goal of the match.  For Long, it was his second match-winning goal of the year and third tally overall.
 
The two sides played 10-on-10 for the final 12:49 of the contest after a Gray Wolf was sent off for his second yellow card of the match, but Concordia (0-1) was unable to find the equalizer.
 
Ali Chokr (Bint Jbail, Lebanon/Fontainebleaus [La.] H.S.) made three saves in goal for his sixth career shutout, one shy of the school's all-time record. 
 
Lourdes finished the match with an 18-9 shot advantage, including a 9-3 edge on goal, but Webb kept the Cardinals close making eight stops.  The Gray Wolves also had the only six corner kick opportunities in the match.
 
The Gray Wolves improve to 2-3-1 all-time in home openers with the victory.
 
Lourdes (2-1) will open WHAC play next Saturday evening as the Gray Wolves entertain Cornerstone.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.