SEWARD, Neb. – With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Concordia University women’s soccer team is right in the thick of the race for a second GPAC regular-season title in a row. The Bulldogs enter the week tied atop the standings along with Hastings and Midland. All three squads are 7-0-1 in conference play. The logjam at the top heightens the importance of road trips to Mount Marty on Tuesday and to Jamestown on Saturday.
This week
Tuesday, Oct. 16 at Mount Marty (1-9, 0-7), 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 20 at Jamestown (8-5-1, 5-2-1), 1 p.m.
It should be noted that the 1 p.m. kickoff time at Mount Marty (Archery Fields) is an adjustment from the originally scheduled 3 p.m. start. Check Mount Marty’s Stretch Internet portal for a live stream. Jamestown will also have a live webcast on Saturday via its Stretch Internet site.
Sixth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad has taken care of business against opponents situated near the bottom of the conference since a 1-1 draw with Hastings on Oct. 3. In the three wins since that tie, Concordia has outscored Presentation, Doane and Dakota Wesleyan by a combined total of 15-0. Those results extended the Bulldogs’ GPAC regular-season unbeaten streak to 23 (21-0-2). It’s been more than two full years since Concordia last suffered a loss in conference regular-season play. During that 23-game stretch, the Bulldogs have outnumbered their foes, 78-8.
Despite the injury to Kaitlyn Radebaugh (nine goals in 2017) in game one, Concordia has continued to find ways to put the ball in the back of the net. The ringleaders are Maria Deeter (13 goals, five assists), Lauren Martin (five goals, 14 assists) and Brynn Suddeth (nine goals, four assists). Some major achievements are on the horizon for Deeter and Martin. Deeter (36 career goals) needs two more goals to crack the program’s top five all-time. Meanwhile, Martin is two assists away from setting a new school single-season standard. Among GPAC teams, the Bulldogs rank first in goals per game (3.36) and third in fewest goals allowed per game (1.0).
Mount Marty is winless in conference play and has been outscored 52-11 by its first 10 opponents. Shae Provencher and Torrye Provencher have both notched three goals apiece to top the Lancers, who are coming off a 7-0 loss to Midland. On the other hand, Jamestown responded to a 1-0 loss at Morningside on Oct. 6 with wins by 4-1 scores over both Briar Cliff and Doane. For a balanced Jimmies team, Kristin Breaux paces the squad with five goals. Jamestown has already played overtime games against GPAC co-leaders Hastings (2-1 loss) and Midland (0-0 draw).
Concordia hopes to continue its conference championship push next week when it closes the regular season with games at No. 21 Midland on Oct. 24 and at home versus Briar Cliff on Oct. 27.