SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The well has recently run dry from a goal scoring perspective for the Concordia University Women’s Soccer team. Playing for the second time this season, host Morningside rode a late first half penalty kick goal to a 3-0 victory on Wednesday (Oct. 7) evening. The score wasn’t quite indicative of the competitiveness on the field. The Bulldogs held a 10-9 edge in the shot count.
Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad was coming off a 1-0 loss to Dakota Wesleyan last week. Concordia has now slipped to 3-3 overall (3-2 GPAC).
“Morningside is a good team and well-organized,” Goines said. “It really was a competitive game. It boils down to them executing on restarts and taking the game from us in those moments. We did not execute our restarts and gave up some soft goals in those moments. We had an advantage for a good portion of the match, but we put ourselves behind the proverbial eight ball in those specific situations.”
Some tweaks have been made in attempt to jumpstart the attack. Primarily a center back throughout her collegiate career, junior Cheyenne Smith has been moved forward in the formation in recent action. Smith nearly knotted the score early in the second half on a prime goal scoring chance that was denied by Mustang keeper Alexandra Homan. Mikeila Martinez also had one of her strikes drill the crossbar. That’s just how the night went for the visitors.
It has been a complicated fall for Morningside (1-0-1, 1-0-1 GPAC), which had not played since a draw at Presentation on Sept. 17. The Mustangs appeared ready for the Bulldogs. The penalty kick in the 44th minute really was a back breaker. Logan Abernathy cashed in the PK for Morningside and changed the way Concordia approached the remainder of the game.
“We created three or four legitimate goal scoring chances,” Goines said. “Their keeper pulled off an amazing save on a point-blank shot. We did some things we wanted to do in the final third, just couldn’t find the back of the net. It wasn’t a poor performance across the board. It was unfortunate we put ourselves in a hole late in the first half. Then we had to chase the game.”
Twenty-two Bulldogs wound up seeing action. Smith was credited with taking half of the team’s shots (five total, including two on goal). Jaiden Beecher also put a pair of shots on frame. In goal, Lindsey Carley made two saves. Mustangs Samantha O’Roy and Paytn Harmon eluded Carley’s reach with a second-half goal apiece.
The Bulldogs will be back at home on Saturday to host Jamestown (4-2, 2-2 GPAC) for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff. The Jimmies tied for second place in the 2019 GPAC regular season and ended Concordia’s season in the conference tournament quarterfinals with a 4-0 result in North Dakota. Jamestown had its scheduled Wednesday game versus Presentation postponed.