Seward, Neb. – Concordia Women’s Soccer continues its conference slate, welcoming No. 25 Hastings on Wednesday and Briar Cliff for Homecoming (Sept. 28). The Bulldogs entered the GPAC play and dropped two games versus Northwestern (4-3) and Dordt (3-2). CUNE has earned a 3-4-1 overall record and 0-2 in the conference.
This Week
Wednesday, Sept. 25 vs. No. 25 Hastings (6-1-2, 2-0 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. Briar Cliff (0-6-1, 0-2 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bulldog Stadium (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· With a 12-0 shot advantage in the first half, the Bulldogs gave in to a four goal onslot by the visiting Northwestern last Wednesday. Suddenly down 4-1, Concordia answered with two goals of its own via Kierstynn Garner. Sadie Mares and Savannah Andrews set up the goals and the sophomore, out of Scottsdale, Ariz., had two assists on the night. CUNE took an 18-8 shot advantage in the contest, but the scoring frenzy ended by both teams after the 66th minute.
· Hope was starting to dwindle for the Bulldogs, down 2-0 in the road match against Dordt with only 12 minutes remaining. Senior Katelyn Smith gave the sputtering offense an expresso like energy boost off the bench. Six minutes after being subbed in, the Omaha, Neb., native scorched a shot off the post and followed it up with a goal scoring boot off the original bare miss. Smith's second career goal ignited the offense and Garner for the game tying score with less than two minutes to play. Defender forward Karinna Tel found a game winner to complete a stunning loss in the final seconds.
· The conference win leaders include Hastings (6-1-2, 2-0 GPAC), Dordt (5-1-, 1-0-1 GPAC) and College of Saint Mary (3-3-2, 2-0 GPAC). Winless outside of the conference, Northwestern (2-5-1, 2-0 GPAC) has answered with two straight conference wins. Nipping on their heels, Mount Marty (4-3-1), Concordia (3-4-1), and then Doane follows with a 3-5-1 record. Morningside (1-2-3) sits just before three winless teams: Midland (0-1-1), Briar Cliff (0-6-1) and Waldorf (0-7).
· Garner, a junior forward, has scored nine goals (team leader) and tallied two assists. After a three goal week, she is tied with Hastings’ Dekota Schubert for the most goals in the conference. Garner has 36 career goals scored and is only two away from tying Jessica Skerston’s 38, who is No. 5 on the program’s all-time list. With the game-winner versus Nebraska Wesleyan, she has 14 game winning goals in her career and solidifies her as No. 1 in the program in that category. The Kearney High School graduate has two game winners this season and seven in 2023.
· GPAC’s 2023 5th leading goal scorer, Savannah Andrews, broke through for her first two pointer of the season against the Red Raiders. She hit the back of the net for the 19th time this season as the Bulldogs will look to get her going in the following games. While she leads the team in assists (three), Concordia becomes a much more dangerous offense with the ball at her feet inside the box.
· The Massey Ratings have Concordia rated 88th with an 89th strength of schedule ranking. Massey has the upcoming opponents slotted at 60th (Hastings) and 123rd (Briar Cliff). The teams' strength of schedule rankings has the Broncos (128) and Chargers (57).
Hastings
The Broncos are 6-1-2 overall and 2-0 in GPAC play. Hastings was able to best Morningside (3-2) and Briar Cliff (3-1) and tied common opponent Graceland University (1-1) of Iowa. The team has 20 goals in its first nine games, while allowing seven. With 16 assists on the year, the Broncos have a high assist to goal ratio and the assist leader, by a wide margin, is Megan Lampe (seven). Dekota Schubert is tied for the league lead in goals scored (nine) and is followed by Dakota Pritchard (three) in finishes in the final third. Averaging 2.22 goals per outing, the Broncos level out at 19.1 shots per game and tallied a .529 shots on goal percentage with 172 total strikes. Senior Jackson Pedersen has held onto all 810 minutes in the net garnering 37 saves and a .841 save percentage.
Briar Cliff
The Chargers have yet to defeat an opposing squad with a 0-7-1 overall record and an 0-2-1 GPAC showing through three contests. Briar Cliff tied with Mount Marty (1-1) in its conference opener and followed the performance with two losses versus Doane (3-1) and Hastings (3-1). The Sioux City, Iowa squad has scored six goals and has allowed 25 against tough competition. Having 72 total shots on the year, BCU has a .583 shots on goal percentage on nine shots per contest. Manu Polachini and Emily Moran are the only two Broncos with multiple goals and Polachini has one of the team's two assists. Addison Frisch leads with 11 shots and goalkeeper Jaime Rowlands has started seven of their eight games. Rowlands has allowed 20 goals and punched out 45 saves on a .692 save percentage. Her record is 0-5-1 between the posts.
Next Week
The Bulldogs will continue conference play against Dakota Wesleyan in the lone match next week. Concordia will travel to face the Tigers in Mitchell, S.D. on Saturday. The match is listed below.
Saturday, Oct. 5
3 p.m. – at Dakota Wesleyan