Sept. 28, 2011 - The Concordia Cougar women's soccer team evened their season record at 4-4 and earned their first Northern Athletics Conference win in five tries with a 1-0 win over visiting Alverno College this afternoon.
Much of the first half was played in Alverno's end of the field, but Concordia was unable to take the lead despite outshooting the Inferno 5-2. The Cougars' two best chances involved forward Alyssa Soulis (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake North) who used her speed to dribble into the box. However, Alverno defenders were able to recover and poke the ball out of danger on both occasions before Soulis could pull the trigger.
The Cougars continued to flood the attack zone at the start of the second half, and the effort finally paid off in the 63rd minute. Gorana Micevic (Norridge, IL/Ridgewood) shook free of a defender on the right wing and dribbled at an angle toward the goal. When another defender moved to challenge her, Micevic slid a pass through the goal mouth. Freshman Anne Rockert (Kankakee, IL/Herscher) got just enough of a step on her marker to slam the ball high into the net for her second goal of the season and a 1-0 Cougars' lead.
Rockert's goal would hold up as the Cougars worked hard to allow the Inferno very few quality chances. Alverno was held to just seven shots for the match, and Concordia keeper Callie Hasselbring (Houston, TX/Cypress Ridge) was required to make just one save in notching the shutout victory.
Concordia will travel to Sheboygan on Saturday to play Lakeland College in a doubleheader with the men's team.
