Lourdes scored four times in a 17-minute span early in the first half on Wednesday afternoon as the Gray Wolves closed out the home portion of its schedule with a 5-0 victory over Concordia (Mich.) at Wildcat Stadium.
 
"This was a good team effort today," head coach Matt Johnson said afterwards.  "We had great energy early to take the lead, and we had a much better performance managing the game and not letting them back into it.  Hopefully we can carry some confidence into Saturday.  It will be a stiff test going to Cornerstone."
 
The Gray Wolves wasted little time taking the lead.  Following a foul in the penalty area, Farouk Amoo (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood H.S.) stepped up to the spot and connected for his 13^th goal of the season, tying Jake Kirchoff-Sleet's mark set in 2016.  The would-be match-winner was Amoo's fourth of the season.
 
Less than three minutes later, Federico Reali (Ceprano, Italy/Liceo Sulpicio) had the ball along the end line and sent a cross into the middle of the box where Anthony Samuel (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago/Chaguanas) connected for his first goal of the year.
 
Diego Pereira (Asuncion, Paraguay/Cristo Rey) made it 3-0 Gray Wolves just 11:09 into the contest.  He dribbled the ball past Cardinal defenders from midfield and fired into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the year.
 
Hussein Sbeiti (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn H.S.) made it 4-0 Lourdes, scoring his fifth goal of the year at the 20:09 mark.  He headed in a cross from Amoo, who registered his 30^th point of the year.
 
Lourdes finished the first half with a 14-1 shot advantage in maintaining the 4-0 advantage into intermission.
 
In the second half, the Gray Wolves outshot Concordia (2-14, 0-9 WHAC) 11-1 to finish the match with a 25-2 edge.  Lourdes also had all six second half corner opportunities, finishing with an 8-1 advantage for the match as well.
 
The Gray Wolves concluded the scoring with just 31 seconds to play.  Kevin Gonzalez (Pasadena, Texas/South Houston H.S) played a ball over the top of the Cardinal defense to Leon Eisert (Leipzig, Germany/Kathe-Kollwitz Gymnasium) who found the back of the net for his fifth tally of the year.
 
Igor Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Pentagono) needed to make just one save for his fourth shutout of the season.  Ryan Webb made eight stops for the Cardinals.
 
Lourdes (8-7-1, 3-5-1) will close out the 2021 regular season on Saturday afternoon.  The Gray Wolves travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to face Cornerstone.  Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Soccer Stadium.