Women’s Soccer Team Advances to Second Round of GPAC Tournament

by Jacy Johnston

The Concordia Women’s Soccer team advanced to the second round of the GPAC Tournament with a 2-1 defeat over the Morningside Mustangs.

Senior Esther Soenksen began the game with a quick goal for Concordia. With the goal in the first 10 minutes, the Bulldogs were able to play with a lead to begin the game.

“It was really good to get in an early goal and provide the team with some momentum going into the rest of the game,” Soenksen said.

However, the Mustangs leveraged a quick offense to score in the 20th minute. Morningside forward Paytn Harmon scored off on an assist from Alexandra Homan. The 1-1 tie stayed into the halftime break.

Concordia broke the tie in the 63rd minute with a goal from junior Lauren Martin off of an assist from Soenksen. The Bulldogs outshot the Mustangs 20-18 in the contest.
“I think our success was a result of a solid team effort. Throughout the course of the game, there were several players who helped lead the team offensively, “ Soenksen said, “Maria Deeter, Kaitlyn Radabough, and Lauren Martin are just a few who made significant contributions to the team’s performance through their positive attitude and hard work.“

Sophomore goalie Lauren Carley had 9 saves in the contest.

Morningside was the first team to net a goal against Concordia in the last seven games, and the second team in the last 10.

The Bulldogs will continue their battle in the GPAC Tournament next Thursday against Northwestern in the semi-finals. The Northwestern Raiders come to Bulldog Stadium being the only GPAC to not be defeated by Concordia. However, this rematch cannot end in a tie and is set to begin at 7 p.m.

“We’ve been watching film to help us prepare for our match against Northwestern, but at this point in our season we’re not learning anything new, we’re simply perfecting what we already know and do,” Soenksen said.