SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s soccer team endeavors to continue its dominant home run this Saturday when it hosts Northwestern (4-4, 0-0 GPAC) in the GPAC opener for both teams. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT from Bulldog Stadium.
Fourth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad has now won each of its last seven home games dating back to the end of last season. That stretch includes two conference victories in 2015 and five nonconference wins in 2016. Concordia has outscored opponents by a combined total of 19-2 at home this season. It has notched at least five goals in three of its games played inside Bulldog Stadium.
But goals have been difficult to come been in recent meetings between the Bulldogs and Red Raiders. The two sides played to scoreless draws in each of the past two years. Concordia has not scored a goal versus Northwestern since 2011 and is looking to end a winless drought against the Red Raiders that dates back to 2008.
This year’s Concordia squad features an improved offensive attack with balanced goal scoring. Entering the week, Sami Birmingham (6), Rachael Bolin (4), Maria Deeter (4) and Esther Soenksen (4) all ranked among the top 10 goal scorers in the GPAC. The Bulldogs currently rank fourth in the GPAC in goals per game (2.75) and first in terms of fewest goals allowed per game (1.0).
Northwestern has won two-straight nonconference contests entering Saturday’s matchup. The Red Raiders defeated the University of Jamestown (N.D.), 2-0, and then Buena Vista University (Iowa), 4-3, in double overtime in recent action. Alissa Christoffer is the team’s leading goal scorer with five tallies on the year. Northwestern has been outscored by its opponents, 17-15, this season.
Concordia owns a GPAC regular-season record of 12-4-5 over the past two years. The 2014 GPAC tournament team did not lose a single game against conference opponents, going 9-0-4 versus GPAC rivals (including the conference tournament).
Saturday’s game will be shown live by the Concordia Sports Network. Concordia will play its first conference road game on Wednesday, Sept. 28 when it travels to play No. 12 Hastings (6-1-1) at 5:30 p.m. CT.