Women’s soccer loses to Hastings 4-0, moves forward to NAIA tournament
Junior midfielder Elena Ruiz (17) moves the ball down the field toward the goal (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Cohen Carpenter
One of Concordia’s more notable athletic storylines came to a close Tuesday night as the women’s soccer team, who battled all the way back from an 0-3 conference start to make the Great Plains Athletic Conference title game, lost 4-0 to Hastings College.
Perhaps more so than the final score indicates, the Broncos were quite effective in stifling the potent Concordia offense. Through 90 minutes of play, the Bulldogs only mustered four total shots, only two of which were on goal.
“We knew that coming here was going to be a tough task for us,” said coach Nick Smith after the game. “Obviously Hastings is the regular season champion, and well deserved from them, they played really well tonight. Coming into tonight, I think the first goal was going to be crucial to what was ultimately going to succeed.”
Concordia got in a hole early when an errant pass on the defensive backline led to Hastings taking charge and taking the lead. However, it wasn’t long after the miscue that Concordia had the opportunity to tie things up. Coming off of a fast break, junior Kierstynn Garner, the team’s leading goal scorer and second leading scorer in the conference, had a one-on-one opportunity with Hasting’s keeper, who dove to her left and made a spectacular diving save.
Garner ended the night with that singular shot on goal being her only shot overall, with senior Mirarosa Gyllenswan and junior Niah Kirchner combining for Concordia’s three other shots.
It wasn’t long after this opportunity that things began to snowball for the Bulldogs, as the early 1-0 lead, and the fact that a national bid was guaranteed before the match, let the Broncos play fast and loose – which showed up in the stat sheet.
Hastings had more than five times as many shots than Concordia did, finishing the night with 23 total shots, 12 of which were on goal. However, Concordia did not do themselves any favors defensively, with many of Hastings best scoring opportunities and set pieces being a direct result of a Concordia gaffe.
The constant pressure applied by the Hasting’s offense made it almost impossible for the Concordia offense to find any sort of rhythm – a testament to the tenacity and gameplan of the Broncos.
Hastings had a virtually perfect season, the only real blemish on their 15-1-5 record coming against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma back in early September. As Concordia moves forward into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament, a lot of the competition will be as fierce as the Broncos, a point coach Smith emphasized after the loss.
“What we saw from Hastings at this level is what we’re going to see in the next game. Soccer being a game of mistakes, we really have to limit ours. We’re going to be playing against teams that really punish you when those mistakes occur. Tonight is a growing opportunity. This is a new experience for everyone, but I think it’s a good one for prepping us for what we’ll see at the national tournament,” he said.
Concordia will be playing the first round of the aforementioned tournament on November 21. The NAIA will release the tournament schedule, including who the Bulldogs are playing, this Saturday, November 16 at 1 p.m.
