Concordia women’s soccer preserves unbeaten streak against Northwestern
Senior defender Hannah Kile moves the ball down the field to complete a goal (photo from 2024 season).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Ransom Watts
Concordia University women’s soccer opened its Great Plains Athletic Conference competition on Sept. 20 against Northwestern College in a climactic back-and-forth comeback battle that ended in a draw, thanks to two late Bulldog goals.
The Bulldogs had great offensive momentum and cooperation right from the get-go, and attacked Northwestern’s defense with several shots. Twenty-one minutes in, Concordia’s Savannah Andrews scored the Bulldogs’ first goal, and her third goal of the season off an assist from Kierstynn Garner. In the waning minutes of the first, Northwestern answered with a goal of its own, leaving it tied at 1-1.
Into the second half, Northwestern’s explosive offense looked to drop Concordia into a hopeless deficit with two goals scored, making it 3-1. Concordia allowed a few too many fouls early in the second, which hurt their momentum at times, but didn’t give up, and with a few minutes left in the game, were able to retaliate with two goals of their own. Kyana Rios scored Concordia’s first goal of the comeback at 82 minutes, adjusting the score to 3-2. Just a few minutes later, Keirstynn Garner added hers, tying the game at 3-3.
Both Rios and Garner weren’t finished yet, however, and threatened to bend the score even more the other way with a shot from Rios and a corner kick from Garner.
Although the women would have wanted more from the final minutes to ensure a victory, the Bulldogs nonetheless remain unbeaten after Saturday’s showing at 5-0-3. The women fought hard and climbed their way out from a frightening deficit and hope to bring the same hard fight and relentless play to their next GPAC matchup on Sept. 24, where they have a showdown with College of St Mary in Omaha at 3 p.m.
