Steady play from Donohoue not enough

By on Oct. 19, 2013 in Women's Soccer

Steady play from Donohoue not enough

By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Despite outplaying their competition for much of the game, the Bulldogs fell short in a grueling, cold and windy soccer match at Northwestern College. Concordia dropped its third-straight game in a 2-0 defeat in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday.

Shut out for just the fourth time this season, the Bulldogs’ road trip struggles continued as they were not able to capitalize on opportunities to put the ball in the net, missing on 20 shots to Northwestern’s 12.The loss moved Concordia (6-7-1, 2-4 GPAC) to eighth place in the conference. It was the second-straight loss to Northwestern.

The Bulldogs played an even match and controlled much of the action throughout the game despite falling behind 1-0 in the 21st minute of the game. It was not until the tail end of the game, when Concordia was playing with just 10 players that Northwestern sealed the deal with a goal in the 89th minute.

“I thought we had the better of play in both halves,” head coach Gregg Henson said. “We just were not able to get quite enough shots on frame. It was a physical game. Northwestern’s a good squad.”

A red card in the 58th minute made things more difficult as the Bulldogs tried to put the equalizer on the board. Despite being down a player, the Bulldogs outplayed the Red Raiders for much of the second half.

“Some positives that we were still fighting and playing hard at the end of the game,” Henson said. “We definitely did not quit. Even going down a player things didn’t change. We continued to dominate most of the play.”

Senior Jordan Donahue stayed busy throughout the game, moving into more of an attacking role and getting off a game-high seven shots on the day.

“Jordan (Donohoue) had a great game,” Henson said. “We changed things up a bit and had her playing more at forward. She touched the ball more than anyone else and led us with seven shots. She did a lot of good things.”

Although starting four freshmen was nothing new for the Bulldogs, Henson noted that they still make mistakes at times due to their inexperience.

Henson also noted that senior Louisa Mehl, who started for the first time this season, had a solid performance.

The Bulldogs will return home for their next game when they host Midland (6-5-3, 4-2 GPAC) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. as Concordia looks to end its three-game skid. The Warriors won last year’s meeting by a 3-0 score.