MITCHELL, S.D. – Goalkeeper Lindsey Carley put it quite well in a postgame exchange with head coach Chris Luther and her teammates. Said Carley, “It only took us 18 games, but we’re finally starting to find our groove.” That groove showed up in the form of a season high goal total for the Concordia University women’s soccer team. The Bulldogs ended the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 2) by winning at Dakota Wesleyan, 4-1.
The victory boosted Luther’s squad to sixth place in the final GPAC standings. Concordia sits at 6-10-2 overall and at 6-4-2 within league play.
“We wish we could have found it earlier,” said Luther in regards to Carley’s comment. “The girls are feeling really good about the way we’re playing. Our defense is still holding pretty true. Dakota Wesleyan has a striker up front who’s a good player. We made some adjustments and really played well.”
As Luther pointed out, the team’s seven goals scored over the past two games are more than the team had scored in the previous seven outings combined. So what changed? Kaley Heinz moved up to a forward position and Tori Cera was bumped into the midfield. The result has been a more dangerous attacking team. The Bulldogs generated 17 shots (10 on goal) on Saturday.
Four different Concordia players found the back of the net at Dakota Wesleyan: Mikeila Martinez (23’), Michaela Twito (29’), Cera (82’) and Morgan (no longer ‘Scooter’) Raska (‘86’). Twito had been the hero of Wednesday’s 3-2 double overtime win over Doane. Suddenly, the goals are coming from a number of different sources. The consensus among Bulldogs who chimed in on Twitter was that Raska’s goal was a legitimate ‘banger.’
Josephine Bardsley knocked in the only Tiger goal of the contest. Her score in the 51st minute cut Concordia’s lead to 2-1. It remained that way for more than 30 minutes of game time. The other six shots that DWU put on frame were denied by Carley.
Perhaps the Bulldogs have figured some things out. The GPAC tournament will be the ultimate test. Said Luther, “We couldn’t continue to do the same things over and over and expect different results. We kept challenging the girls to think creatively and think outside of the box. As a coaching staff we looked at each other and said, ‘Are we doing the same thing?’ We knew our previous lineups were defending well, but we weren’t generating enough offense.”
The conference tournament will begin with the quarterfinals on Thursday (Nov. 7). In recent years, the program routinely rose to the occasion in these spots. Unofficially, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs will be headed to North Dakota to take on the third-seeded Jimmies in postseason action.
Said Luther, “With the personnel we’re running and the way we’re playing right now, we’re feeling really confident.”