SEWARD, Neb. – A lot of possibilities remain in terms of GPAC tournament seeding for the Concordia University Women’s Soccer team, which has only one game remaining in the regular season. The Bulldogs are preparing to play at Doane on Wednesday. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. CT from Al Papik Field in Crete, Neb. Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad is coming off a 2-0 home win over Presentation in its most recent outing.
Wednesday, Oct. 27 at Doane (3-11-1, 1-8-1 GPAC), 5 p.m.
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In the current GPAC standings, Concordia (8-6-2, 5-4-2 GPAC) resides in sixth place with 17 points. The Bulldogs are looking up at Jamestown (10-0), Briar Cliff (10-0), Hastings (7-3-1), Dakota Wesleyan (6-3-1) and Midland (6-4). In addition, the three teams closest behind the Bulldogs are each within two points. A win on Wednesday would likely clinch a conference tournament berth for Concordia, which is an extreme longshot to host in the conference quarterfinals. In other words, the path to repeating a GPAC tournament title would be different. Last season, the Bulldogs hosted in all three rounds of the conference postseason.
In last week’s action, Concordia dropped a 3-0 decision at Briar Cliff, the defending GPAC regular season champion and current co-conference leader along with Jamestown. The Chargers limited the Bulldogs to just two shots on goal for the entire 90 minutes while getting a starring performance from reigning GPAC Offensive Player of the Year Flor Suarez (two goals and one assist). Three days later, Concordia dominated Presentation in a 2-0 victory that included a goal apiece from Grace Soenksen and Madeline Haugen. The Bulldogs outshot the Saints, 24-2. Concordia celebrated seven seniors prior to kickoff.
In conference games only, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 16-10. Concordia has been competitive with nearly every GPAC opponent – three of the four conference defeats have come by 1-0 final scores. Goines’ squad is capable of making another postseason run if it can find a way to generate goals. Haugen is now the team leader this season with four goals. Mikeila Martinez has produced three goals and four assists. At keeper, Kalie Ward sports a goals against average of 1.19 in 15 games.
Though it sits near the bottom of the GPAC, Doane has made strides from last season when it went 1-14-3 overall. Most notably, the Tigers own a conference win over Mount Marty and earned a 1-1 draw with Dakota Wesleyan. Doane has been outscored this season by a combined total of 37-13. The previous season, the Tigers were outscored, 50-5. Head Coach Jennifer Kennedy-Croft is in her sixth season leading the program. Concordia has won each of the past eight meetings with Doane.
The GPAC tournament quarterfinals will take place on Thursday, Nov. 4 with the semifinals to follow on Nov. 9 and the championship game set for Nov. 12. The highest seeds host in each round.