Box Score Sept. 15, 2013 - The Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team had a week between their third and fourth games of the season before beginning the heavy part of the schedule today. The Cougars hosted the Illinois College Lady Blues in the home opener on the Concordia campus. It was a rainy and chilly 60 degree day as Concordia looked to remain undefeated.

"It was an interesting week of weather here in Chicago with a heat advisory during practice to begin the week to the weather we have today" said CUC head coach Thomas Goines. "We need to remember that both teams have to play in the same conditions out on the field and not let it affect our game."

The game started out brightly for Concordia as senior Alyssa Soulis (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake North) terrorized the center of the defense. Once the Lady Blues started dropping to counteract her speed, sophomore Ahissa Bustos (Island Lake, IL/Wauconda) broke free. She got behind the defense with a delightful give-and-go sequence that unlocked the Lady Blues defense. Her subsequent cross was turned into the Illinois College goal by a defender that was being pressured by Soulis. The tenth-minute marker put the Cougars up 1-0.

Two minutes later, Bustos was at it again as her strong left footed shot just went wide of the far post. The remainder of the half continued to go the Cougars way but did not result in further goals.

After half time, the game turned into a turgid slog that mirrored the dreary weather. Led by the work of freshman Elizabeth Sanders (St Louis, MO/Parkway South) and Christina Kiotis (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) in the middle of the field, Illinois College was held at bay.

Sophomore Nikki Saucedo (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township) had a stellar game in central defense and kept the Cougars organized through the rotation of defenders in her line as injuries occurred. Illinois College increased the pressure on the Cougar goal with more direct balls up the middle of the field trying to break through. In the final ten minutes, CUC played out the game weathering a series of increasingly physical challenges to earn their first shutout of the season.

Goines said after the match, "Illinois College is a well-coached and organized side. Our pressure on them early earned a goal and our defense led by Saucedo and Callie Hasslebring (Houston, TX/Cypress Ridge) got the shutout. Now the games start coming thick and fast and we have to concentrate on executing what we have worked on to this point in the season."

Cougars' goalkeeper Hasselbring made seven saves. The Lady Blues' keeper made four saves.

Head Coach Thomas Goines became the career wins leader for Concordia-Chicago soccer. Today's win was number 23 for him through two full seasons and four games of the 2013 season.

The 1-0 final score sends Concordia to 3-0-1 on the season. Concordia continues their season with three games in eight days on the road. Wednesday they are at Mount Mary in Wisconsin, Sunday at Edgewood College in their first conference match, and next Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Aurora University.