Sept. 17, 2011 - The Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team took to the home pitch this afternoon hoping to extend their three-game winning streak. However, the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons had other ideas as they controlled the temp from start to finish in a 6-0 victory.
The story of the match was CUW's Lauren Straheler as she played a role in five of the six goals. Straehler opened the scoring in the seventh minute and then set up Kelly Sippel in the 14th minute. The second goal began off a corner kick by Renee Hecker. Straehler one-touched Hecker's cross in front of the goal where Sippel's header at point-blank range beat Cougar keeper Callie Hasselbring (Houston, TX/Cypress Ridge).
Kelly Bolli made it a 3-0 game in the 33rd minute with a long shot from the left wing. The three-goal lead held up through the end of the half, a half where the Falcons outshot the Cougars 18-4. The Cougars managed two scoring chances for the half, a 10-yard shot from the right side by Alyssa Soulis (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake North) in the opening minutes and a 15-yard shot late in the half by Gorana Micevic (Norridge, IL/Ridgewood). Both shots were saved by CUW keeper Samanatha Anacker.
The Falcons got on the board early in the second half as the Cougars were whistled for a handball in the box. Straehler took the penalty kick and hit her shot straight on; Hasselbring got part of the ball but could not keep it from sailing high into the net.
Straehler completed her hat trick in the 71st minute, nailing a direct free kick from 20 yards out. She later set up Mary Harris for the final goal of the game with less than three minutes remaining.
The visitors finished with a 29-7 edge in shots. Hasselbring recorded a season-high 12 saves.
The Cougars (3-2, 0-2 NAC) will look to get back on the winning track Tuesday afternoon when they host Aurora University.
