SEWARD, Neb. – For the first time this spring, the Concordia University Women’s Soccer team made an official game appearance inside Bulldog Stadium. Despite gaining a 1-0 lead on Michaela Twito’s second half goal, the Bulldogs suffered defeat at the hands of visiting Grand View University (Iowa). A mistake in the back was capitalized on by Samantha Milani, who knocked in the golden goal in double OT in a 2-1 decision.
Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad has lost all three spring outings, each by one-goal margins (two in double overtime) and now carries an overall record of 9-6-1. Though the results have not been favorable, Goines sees progress being made.
“The theme for us this spring is that I think we’ve grown in every game,” Goines said. “They came at us with a unique system as they’re preparing for their playoffs. It’s a unique low pressure, low line system that we have not seen. We took a few minutes to grow into it and figure out what we needed to do to break it down. I think we controlled large portions of the match once we did figure some things out. There were certainly a handful of moments we wish we could clean up against a good side.”
One of those moments led to the game winner for the Vikings (9-5-1), who compete as a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. When Milani got in behind Concordia’s back line, there was nothing drawn out goalkeeper Lindsey Carley could do to preserve the tie. Milani’s goal set off a Grand View celebration with roughly three minutes remaining in the second overtime.
With a team that looks a bit different than the one the Bulldogs put on the field in the fall, goals have been challenging to come by. It was an encouraging sign when Twito found the back of the net in the 53rd minute for her first goal of the season. Mikeila Martinez executed the corner kick to provide the Twito the opportunity. It was one of six shots put on frame by Concordia, which held a slight overall shots advantage of 8-7 for the game.
“Today we had a lot more urgency to get goals,” Goines said. “We had a handful of times where we hit some dangerous balls in the 18. We had some nice restarts and shots set up outside the box. We were better, but not clean enough in certain parts. It’s been a progression.”
Carley notched three saves. The Bulldogs enjoyed the 1-0 lead for only a brief moment. Emma De Costa emerged with the equalizer in the 56th minute. Viking keeper Celenka Hommel recorded five saves.
Now it’s all about prepping for the GPAC tournament. As the No. 3 seed, the Bulldogs will host sixth-seeded Dakota Wesleyan (9-7, 7-5 GPAC) at 7 p.m. CT next Saturday (April 3) in the quarterfinals. The winner will advance to play in the semifinals on April 6.