Box Score Oct. 13, 2013 – The Concordia University Chicago women's soccer team lined up to face Marian University for a second time Sunday on a sun-drenched field in River Forest. It was quite the difference in weather from their attempt to play the game the previous Saturday, which resulted in the rescheduling due to severe weather. The Cougars and Sabres battled hard, but the game ended in a 1-1 tie after two sessions of overtime. The Cougars finished the week undefeated in four games (3-0-1) during the week.

"The first 15 minutes in the game we came out slow and let a very tough Marian side dictate the game to us," said head coach Thomas Goines. "We were penalized for that lapse in play by the goal they scored. After that we turned it around and over time showed our willingness to come together and fight for our teammates."

After a slow start to the game in which Marian's Laura Maly was able to pick up a goal from a long shot in the 12th minute, the Cougars dominated the final 30 minutes outshooting the Sabres 14 to 6. With both teams playing a 4-3-3 formation, it was the first time on the season for the Cougars to see a mirror formation. It was evident the Cougars were comfortable defending against the 4-3-3 that they also practice against as they closed down the Marian forwards, led by the play of Christine Saucedo (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township).

In the midfield, Christina Kiotis (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South), Liz Sanders (St. Louis, MO/Parkway South) and Stephanie Brown (Streamwood, IL/H.S.) sized up their three midfield opponents and closed them down with their high work rate. With Kiotis screening the backline, it left Sanders and Brown to play the forwards in to goal. Unfortunately, some off-target finishing cost the Cougars some goal-scoring opportunities.

After some tactical discussion at halftime, the adjustments to forward runs paid off promptly in the 51^st minute. The midfield picked out the inside forward run of Ahissa Bustos (Island Lake, IL/Wauconda). After a quick cutback, Bustos played Alyssa Soulis (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake North) in the middle of the field. Soulis drew the center back and gave it back to Bustos who lasered a shot into the net for a goal in her third consecutive game.

The Cougars dominated the rest of the second half, but were unable to get the ball in the net. In the first overtime period, Concordia had a golden opportunity to finish the game after a Marian misplay in the box, but Soulis shot high from 12 yards out. In the second overtime, Natalie Weinhold (St. Peters, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) hit the crossbar, and Emily Ernst (Naperville, IL/Naperville Central) forced a tremendous save from Marian keeper Caitlyn Rosenberger on a shot to the upper 90 from 35 yards out.

"Our level of physical play showed our adjustments to conference play and we have really picked up our intensity through the season," said Goines. "I am very proud of the girl's play this week as we had four games, which is tiring both mentally and physically."

CUC keeper Callie Hasselbring (Houston, TX/Cypress Ridge) made seven saves in the match. Rosenberger made six saves for the Sabres.

The Cougars (9-2-2, 3-2-1 NACC) will play on Wednesday at Benedictine University in another conference match-up. The game is under the lights, kicking off at 7 p.m. in Lisle.