Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Soccer: Postseason play has arrived for Lourdes men's soccer as the Gray Wolves enter the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament.  The Gray Wolves, the fourth seed, will host fifth-seeded Northwestern Ohio on Saturday evening in the quarterfinal round to wrap up Homecoming weekend.

Head Coach Matt Johnson: Matt Johnson took over as the second head coach in program's history prior to the 2019 season.  Johnson sports a 111-127-19 (.469) record overall in his 13th season as a men's collegiate soccer coach and has a 36-43-11 (.461) mark in his third year at Lourdes.

Series Notes: Northwestern Ohio holds a 10-0-1 all-time series advantage over the Gray Wolves dating back to Sept. 26, 2015.  The Gray Wolves earned their first result ever against the Racers earlier this season, on Sept. 27, with a 1-1 draw at Wildcat Stadium.  UNOH leads the series 3-0-1 all-time at Wildcat Stadium.  The two schools have met each of the last two seasons in the WHAC tournament, both times in Lima, Ohio, with the Racers prevailing 2-1 in overtime in 2021 and 4-1 last season.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Nate Schuele started the scoring in the 32nd minute and Daniel Mirlach and Kofi Ohene-Larbi scored less than three minutes a part in the second half as Lourdes defeated Cleary 3-1 on Wednesday (Oct. 25) night.  Alex Brock made three saves in goal in the victory.  On Saturday (Oct. 28), Lourdes concluded the regular season with a 5-3 Senior Night victory over Michigan-Dearborn.  Jannik Hofmann scored twice off the bench while Martin Coronel, Jakob Walther, and Rolando Benitez also found the back of the net.  Brock made three more saves in goal for the win.

Scouting Northwestern Ohio: The Racers enter the postseason having won three consecutive matches following at 4-1 victory at home against Rochester (Mich.) on Saturday.  Diego Cerezo has scored a team-high seven goals this season while Tomas Echevarria leads Northwestern Ohio with eight assists and 20 total points.  Echevarria and Moritz Guettel have each scored five times this year.  In goal, Ross Synnott and Georgios Theodoulides have split time between the posts.  Synnott sports a 1.81 goals against average and a .612 save percentage while Theodoulides has a 2.27 GAA and a .469 save mark.

Lourdes in the WHAC Tournament: The Gray Wolves are making their fifth appearance in the WHAC tournament still in search of their postseason victory.  
This marks the fourth consecutive season that Lourdes has advanced to the league tournament and third straight year the Gray Wolves will face Northwestern Ohio in the quarterfinals.  Last season the Gray Wolves dropped their quarterfinal match on the road at Northwestern Ohio 4-1.  

On a Scoring Barrage: Lourdes managed to score just seven goals in the first 13 matches of the season but has picked up its offense over the past two weeks.  In the last four contests, the Gray Wolves have tallied 16 total goals, including a pair of five-goal contests.  With 23 goals on the year, Lourdes enters the WHAC tournament just two tallies shy of moving into the top-five for single season goals by the team.

Lots on the Line with a Win: With a victory over Northwestern Ohio on Saturday, the Gray Wolves would accomplish several program bests.  It would mark the first WHAC tournament win in program history, Lourdes first win ever against UNOH, and give the Gray Wolves five consecutive victories, matching the longest winning streak ever by the program.  The Gray Wolves previously won five consecutive contests to open the 2016 season from Aug. 27-Sept. 18.

In the Record Books: Diego Pereira and Hussein Sbeiti rank sixth and seventh respectively in program history for total points in a career.  Pereira has 25 points while Sbeiti enters the week with 24.  Pereira is also tied for seventh with 10 career goals while Sbeiti is tied for 10th with eight.  However, Sbeiti is tied for fifth with eight career assists and Pereira and Federico Reali are both tied for 10th with five.

Most Draws Ever: Lourdes has set a new school record for ties in a season after drawing with Aquinas for the team's fifth deadlock of the season.  The Gray Wolves played to four draws last season.  Prior to 2022, Lourdes had recorded just seven ties in the program's first seven seasons.

Lots of Appearances: Hussein Sbeiti has moved into fifth place all-time at Lourdes with 63 career appearances on the pitch.  Sebastian Bogarin ranks seventh with 59 appearances while Ariel Ramirez Rios is tied for ninth with 53 contests.  Diego Pereira ranks sixth in Gray Wolf history having started 46 career contests while Sbeiti is seventh with 44 starts.  Bogarin's 42 career starts tie him for ninth on the all-time list.

Brock on the Goalkeeping Charts: Alex Brock enters the postseason third in program history with 107 career saves.  His .738 career save percentage is second best in program history while his 1.36 career goals against average is currently tops among Gray Wolves goalkeepers that have played at least 2,000 minutes.  Brock has six career shutouts as well, trailing Jose Cedillo (2015-2017) and Ali Chokr (2018-2020) by one for a spot atop the record books.

Team Captains: Victor Espinoza, Daniel Mirlach, and Ariel Ramirez Rios are serving as team captains for the 2023 season.

This and That: Lourdes has yielded just 10 first half goals this season ... the Gray Wolves have an 87-64 edge in corner kick opportunities ... Alex Brock has saved two penalty kicks on the year ... the home quarterfinal will be the Gray Wolves' second all-time and first since April 10, 2021 during the split COVID-19 season.