Concordia’s senior men’s and women’s soccer players reflected on the 2025 season and their final games, including Saturday’s Senior Night matchup against Azusa Pacific University, which could shape their collegiate careers and playoff prospects. 

Men’s senior Ryan Smith, a Business Management major and center-back position, shared that with these being some of his final games with Concordia, he is not going to take any game or opportunity to play for granted. He said, “With these being my final months on the team, I take it more game-by-game and day-by-day.”

Smith, the top scorer for the team with four goals this season, scored the goal that allowed Concordia to claim victory over Azusa Pacific University. He is also currently leading the team with 10 points based on combined goals and assists.

With Smith’s experience and expertise on the team, he feels that he and his fellow seniors use this to help model leadership for the team. “All of the seniors have been leaders for the team, so that has a big impact. We’ve been in these situations [working towards the playoffs] multiple times before, so kind of just getting the younger players ready for these games coming up,” he said. 

Smith added that the competitiveness between Concordia and the other teams within the league has helped push the team to work hard together on the field. He said, “Every team is beatable, but they can also beat us, so it’s just how we are and how we show up on the day. Ultimately, it's in our hands how good we play, so it's all up to us and how we show up on the deck.” 

Fellow center-back player, senior Madison Hall, a Communications major, added her outlook on the final games for the women’s team. She said, “I am always making the most of every moment I have, whether it’s at training or in games. My mindset is to give my all and make sure I don’t have any regrets before I hang up my cleats at the end of the season.” 

Hall is a consistent starter who helped lead and contribute to their victorious eight wins in their 13 games played so far. She shared that reaching and winning the PacWest Conference is what she would consider to be a successful and memorable senior year. “It would mean everything to win the PacWest Conference. We have such a big senior class, and winning the PacWest Championship would be a great way to end my soccer career,” she said. 

Hall elaborated that, “I think we just always stick to our system and who we are, when we are operating in our principles. When we stick to our system, there isn’t a team that we can’t beat or compete against.” 

Just as Hall stressed the importance of maintaining their strategies to win games, Smith echoed that same idea of urgency following the men’s 1-0 win against Azusa Pacific. “Our win against APU will give us good momentum going to Hawaii, and if we come back from Hawaii with two wins, we will have six points. Then, we have a good final two-game stretch. So I feel like from here on out everything is a must-win,” he said. 

For the women’s team, Hall feels that maintaining the camaraderie of the team and sticking to their strategies is key to reaching the playoffs. She said, “I think we have an amazing, talented group of girls, and we just need to keep being us and sticking to our system. We need to stay focused, keep motivating and trusting one another.” 

For more information about the men’s soccer upcoming games visit,

https://cuigoldeneagles.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule or visit their Instagram @cuimsoccer 

For more information about the women’s soccer upcoming games visit,

https://cuigoldeneagles.com/sports/womens-soccer/schedule or visit their Instagram @cuiwsoccer

Tags: Soccer, women's athletics, Men's Athletics

---

About Lauryn Scoon

More articles by Lauryn Scoon