Graceland Yellowjackets feel sting of defeat as CUNE women’s soccer wins 2-1
Photo description: Senior Grace Soenksen goes in for a goal.
Photo credit: Kayla Korb
Madeline Peters
Sports Editor
The Concordia women’s soccer team beat the Graceland University Yellowjackets 2-1 Saturday evening in their second game of the season.
The first goal of the game came in the 12th minute when sophomore Savannah Andrews shot a long goal to the back corner of the net, giving the lead to Concordia. The Bulldogs kept the lead through the rest of the half.
In the 68th minute, Graceland shot the ball right past the Bulldog keeper and tied the game up. Within a minute, sophomore Kierstynn Garner of Concordia was fouled and Concordia was awarded a free kick. Junior Hannah Haas took the kick. Garner received it and sent it over Yellowjacket defenders and the goalie to make the game 2-1 for Concordia.
Emboldened by Garner’s turnaround kick, the rest of the team cut through Graceland’s defenses and created numerous opportunities for shots. There were five shots taken by various Concordia athletes, including a missed penalty kick by Andrews that bounced off the top of the goal.
Coach Nick Smith had critiques about the beginning of the game, but was excited with the energy the women found at the end of the game, saying, “We’re happy that we got the result. I think we made the game difficult on ourselves tonight, not really executing the way that we would’ve expected to come into that, but we gave up a goal in the second half… and I think the response from my girls was excellent. Within a minute after that goal, we scored our second, which was ultimately enough for us to get the job done tonight. But there’s definitely more to come from this group.”
Smith, who became the new head coach of the women’s team following Thomas Goines’ departure, was confident in the ability of the Bulldog women for the upcoming season saying, “I’m cautiously optimistic, I think. I think we can do a lot of things this year. We’re trying out some new… ideas that [are different] than what the girls had in the past, but I think we’ve got a player corps here that can compete for titles.”
The evening game also allowed Concordia to show off their new stadium lights, which were put up over the summer following the collapse of one post in a storm back in the spring. The crowd was awed by a light show at the end of the halftime break, following Garner’s goal in the second half, and at the end of the game when a blue-colored light was revealed to match Concordia’s school colors.
The Bulldogs and their new lights will be out in full force again when the women’s team plays their next game on Aug. 30 against York University in Bulldog Stadium at 8 p.m.
