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The Concordia University women's soccer team pushed a perennial soccer power into overtime before dropping the game 2-1 to the Bellevue University Bruins Wednesday night at Tranquility Park in Omaha, Neb.
The Bruins jumped on the Bulldogs early as Anne Marie Lind beat freshman keeper Ariel Harris to give Bellevue the 1-0 lead just five minutes into the first frame. The Bulldogs defense then hunkered down and held their own to keep the Bruin lead at just one at the half.
"We were sluggish to start, then struggled with combining intensity and intelligence," said head coach Rob Giesbrecht. "The last two thirds of the game I felt that we played very well. Bellevue is a talented, well coached team that did what it needed to in order to get the result. We were fortunate to only be down by one after our poor start."
The Bulldogs tied the game at 1-1 when twelve minutes into the second half, Hannah Denk buried a shot into the back of the net for her first goal of the season. The two teams then found themselves in a defensive stalemate as the game went into overtime.
The Bruins ended the game four minutes into the overtime period. Lind worked her way through the box and had her initial shot blocked, but the ball come right back to her, and on the second attempt, she buried the shot for the game winner.
Ariel Harris finished the game with 13 saves in her first collegiate start. "Ariel Harris made her first start in goal and was fantastic," said Giesbrecht. "She was quick off her line and sure-handed and kept us in it when called upon."
"Overall, we are gutted with the ending," continued Giesbrecht. "But, we need to only blame ourselves for starting so poorly. We will learn from this and move on."
The next action for the Bulldogs comes this Saturday as the Bulldogs travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a 1 p.m. game against Mt. Mercy.