SEWARD, Neb. – The most nightmarish 10 minutes the Concordia University Women’s Soccer team has experienced in some time put a stain on the GPAC opener on a muggy Wednesday (Sept. 18) evening. A Northwestern flurry just after halftime spurred the visitors from Orange City, Iowa, to a 4-3 victory inside Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs suffered defeat despite a thoroughly dominant first half (12-0 shot advantage) that featured junior Savannah Andrews’ first goal of the season.
Head Coach Nick Smith’s squad played for the fourth time in eight days and was fresh off a Monday road win over Nebraska Wesleyan. With Wednesday’s loss, Concordia slipped to 3-3-1 overall (0-1 GPAC).
“Soccer can be cruel, but we can only look at ourselves,” Smith said. “It’s a game that we dominate for 80 minutes entirely. Unfortunately for us, you have to play for 90. We knew Northwestern had some good attacking players, and they took full advantage of our slow start to the second half. There were a lot of good things over the course of the game, scored some good goals and had some really good play at times. We didn’t finish our chances in the first half when we had the opportunity to kill off the game.”
The switch flipped in stunning fashion after the halftime break. The 1-0 Bulldog lead that felt like it should have been a three- or four-goal margin quickly evaporated. Northwestern got its first goal just 22 seconds into the second half when its attacking duo of Kylie and Avril Baccam outhustled the Concordia back line. Kylie played the ball ahead to Avril for a clean look at the goal.
Suddenly, the floodgates were open. The Red Raiders built their lead to 4-1 as a goal apiece peppered the back of the net in the 51st, 52nd and 54th minutes. Avril Baccam put away her side’s first two goals while Grace Timm and Kylie Baccam notched a goal each while running free in the attacking third. Northwestern (1-5-1, 1-0 GPAC) made its six shots on goal (eight total) count.
Down 4-1, Concordia attempted to mount a comeback while countering with the exploits of Kierstynn Garner and company. After setting up Andrews’ goal (18th career) with a corner in the first half, sophomore Sadie Maries played Garner in behind the Northwestern back line, and Garner promptly cashed in with a goal in the 55th minute. Eleven minutes later, the Bulldogs were celebrating Garner’s second goal of the night, eighth of the season and 35th of her career. This one was facilitated by a cross from Andrews.
Just like that, the well dried up and both teams went scoreless over the final 24 minutes. Northwestern keeper Peyton Anderson came up with two crucial saves during that time period to preserve the Red Raiders’ first win of 2024. Garner had a crack at a hat trick and Andrews and Sierra Springer both tested Northwestern’s keeper, with help from the always energetic play of Niah Kirchner. Ultimately, the Red Raiders held on and avenged the 8-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Concordia in 2023. To its credit, Northwestern has tallied 15 goals in seven games this season.
Conference play will continue on Saturday with a road trip to Sioux Center, Iowa. Concordia and Dordt will kick things off at 2 p.m. CT from the Dordt Soccer Complex. The Bulldogs won last season’s meeting by a 4-0 score in Seward. The Defenders (4-1-1, 0-0-1 GPAC) tied Midland, 2-2, in their GPAC opener on Wednesday.