SEWARD, Neb. – There were opportunities galore in the second half for the Concordia University Women’s Soccer team, but it could never pop the lid off the goal. Despite a commanding 18-5 advantage in the shot category on Saturday (Sept. 24), the Bulldogs wound up settling for a 0-0 draw with visiting Northwestern. Concordia also drew with Dordt, 1-1, three days earlier.
Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad remains unbeaten at 6-0-2 overall (1-0-2 GPAC), but this one felt like a match that got away. On the plus side, the ’22 Bulldogs are the first side in school history to avoid a loss over the first eight games of a season.
“We’ve played pretty well over the last month,” Goines said. “We haven’t found a loss in a month, and that’s great. That’s not something you do consistently in sports. We’ve played well and defended well. Even in today’s match, we did everything that on any other day, you would find a win. Unfortunately we just didn’t find the back of the net, and soccer’s mean. It just really is. Credit to Northwestern. They defended well and limited our good chances. We just didn’t put them away.”
The finishing touch that Concordia showed throughout much of its 6-0 start has eluded it of late. As part of the frustration on Saturday, the Bulldogs had a goal by Hannah Haas negated by an offside, they misfired on a penalty kick and had an Ellie Eason shot drill the left post, among other close calls. Leading goal scorer Kierstynn Garner (seven goals in 2022) expended plenty of effort and energy attempting to put a tally on the board. She took four shots on the day.
Dominance in possession made it a fairly light 90 minutes of work for goalkeeper Kalie Ward, who made two saves while recording the shutout. The Red Raiders (4-5-1, 0-3-1) had a couple of prime opportunities of their own on counter attacks. It was a strong performance for Kaelin Alons, who made five saves while earning a shutout of her own.
Going back to Sept. 6, Concordia has surrendered just one goal over five games. That lone goal happened to come with 66 seconds remaining in the tie with Dordt. While Ward has played at a high level in goal, the Bulldogs are enjoying stellar play as usual out of two-time first team all-conference center back Grace Soenksen.
“I think it boils down to our players coming together well,” Goines said of the collective defensive effort. “We have two seniors who have played a lot of games back there. We have experience along with a quality goalkeeper. We’ve asked a couple young players to step in and get significant minutes as well. A lot of it goes back to our two seniors on the back line and a couple freshmen who have stepped in and done very well.”
Northwestern (4-5-1, 0-3-1 GPAC) remains winless within conference play. The Bulldogs and Red Raiders played to a 2-2 draw in Orange City, Iowa, a year ago.
Up next will be a rivalry clash on Wednesday with Midland (2-3-3, 0-1-1 GPAC entering Saturday). Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT from Heedum Field in Fremont, Neb. The Bulldogs emerged with a 1-0 win (Cheyenne Smith goal) in last season’s meeting in Seward.