Sept. 19, 2010 - The Concordia Cougar women's soccer team put forth a fine effort for much of this afternoon's home match against Lakeland College. In the end, however, excitement turned to disappointment as Lakeland shocked the home team and its fans with a goal in the 86th minute that resulted in a 2-1 victory and the sixth loss of the season for the Cougars.
Lakeland had some early scoring chances, but it was Concordia that opened the scoring in the 30th minute. Gloria Guerrero (Chicago, IL/Kelvyn Park) played the ball from the left side into the middle where Lyndsay Dyal (Eagle River, AK/Chugiak) settled the ball, moved to the right and, with the keeper out of position, shot the ball just inside of the far post for her second goal in as many games.
Six minutes before halftime, a double dose of bad fortune struck the Cougars. Lakeland's Lyndsey Rogers picked up a loose ball along the end line and walked in from the left side. Her cross got past a defender and found its way under Cougar keeper Kayla Henckel (West Bend, WI/Living Word Lutheran) with enough spin to settle just inside the far post. Worse for the Cougars, Heckel was injured on the play and had to come out of the game. Freshman Sarah Ann Evers (Napoleon. Ohio/H.S.) took over in goal, making her debut for the Cougars.
The two teams moved up and down the field in the second half. Concordia had the better of the play for a while with the Lakeland keeper coming up big on a couple of opportunities by Alyssa Soulis (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake North). Blythe Harkenrider (Fort Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran) had a chance off of a corner kick, but her header went off to the right.
Later in the half, Lakeland began to pick up some momentum. Evers denied the Muskies the go-ahead goal on shots by Kristina Borts and Dana Schmidt. However, with less than five minutes remaining, a stunning turn of events put Lakeland in front. A long ball from the back found Rogers seemingly ahead of the pack. Rogers touched the ball past an oncoming Evers and into the net. The pack of Cougar defenders looked to the linesman for the expected offside call, but the flag stayed down and the goal was ruled good. Concordia was unable to answer in the final minutes and came away with an especially tough loss.
The Cougars will play at Alverno College in Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon.
