SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The hope at this point is that the competition the Concordia University women’s soccer team has faced will make it better and well-prepared when the conference season rolls around. While playing a second nationally-ranked opponent in a three-day span, the Bulldogs fell, 3-0, at the hands of No. 19 University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) in Siloam Springs, Ark., on Saturday (Aug. 31). Concordia fell by that same score two days earlier to No. 13 John Brown University.
Head coach Chris Luther’s squad now sits at 0-3 at the close of its first road trip of 2019. Luther saw his group having a difficult time chasing around the fleet-footed Drovers (2-0), a member of the NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference.
It’s fair to say that USAO controlled this contest. The Drovers outshot the Bulldogs by a count of 23-2. Concordia never managed to put any of those shots on frame. Freshmen Jaiden Beecher and Isabel Sloss were credited with firing off one shot apiece.
On the flip side, dangerous striker Emma Rice got going for USAO. She notched the team’s first and third goals of the afternoon. Sandwiched in between, Emma Antill found the back of the net in the 40th minute to make it a 2-0 Drover lead just before halftime. Aubrey Ruttman assisted the game’s final two goals. Collectively, they peppered Bulldog keeper Lindsey Carley, who made seven saves.
The youth movement continues in the early season for Concordia. A notable absence from the lineup on Saturday was first team all-conference center back Tori Cera. Luther wound up starting four freshmen with three more coming off the bench. At least three freshmen have started in each of the first three games.
The Bulldogs will return home to host Friends University (Kan.) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday while still in search of their first goal and first win of the campaign. Last season Concordia eked out a 1-0 victory over Friends in a game that was played in Wichita.