SAN FRANCISCO – The Humboldt State men's soccer team (0-1) fell to Concordia University (1-0) in the season opening match, 3-2. As quickly as the Lumberjacks  wanted the season to begin, the first fifteen minutes were some to forget.
 
"Today was a tough loss against a very good Concordia team," said Head Coach Fred Jungemann. "We played well at times and created enough chances to win the game. We also made some bad mistakes that ended up costing us the game."
 
The Jacks opened the 2015 campaign in a quick hole after allowing two early goals to the Cavaliers. Finishes by CU's Erick Urzua in the 5^th minute and Matt Paine in the 13^th may have been the knockout punch for many teams, but not HSU.
 
Green and Gold senior Braxton Griffin cut the deficit in half after finding the back of the net in 16^th minute, coming off the assist by teammate Mitch Butt. Griffin's 14 career goals are just two away from cracking into the program's all-time top-10 list.
 
Despite the flurry of goals in the game's opening minutes, the score line remained the same until the 57^th and 58^th minutes. Concordia rebuilt its two-goal cushion behind Urzua's second of the match, only to once again receive an HSU response. Humberto Alvarez scored his first career goal for the Lumberjacks at 57:53. Griffin set up the play with a cross to earn the assist.
 
"They were very good going forward today and took full advantage of any mistakes we made," added Jungemann. "We have to be sharper at both ends of the field in order to be successful against teams of this caliber."
 
The Green and Gold outshot Concordia 13-8 in the first half, and 18-14 in the game.
 
Christopher Cherms made his first collegiate start in net for the Jacks and finished with four saves.
 
Humboldt will stay in San Francisco through the weekend until Sunday's match against Missouri-St. Louis. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Cox Stadium on the campus of San Francisco State University.