Box Score Oct. 9, 2014 – The Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team took a break from conference play on Thursday to travel to Watertown, WI to face Maranatha Baptist Bible College on a sunny fall afternoon. The Cougars blazed to a 4-0 lead and then gave back three goals before recovering to pull away and emerge victorious by a score of 6-3.

"We came out strong and played our game," said CUC head coach Thomas Goines. "Then we stopped playing to feet, and a quality and organized Maranatha team took advantage. When we got back to our game, we pulled away again, but it was frustrating to see us make things difficult on ourselves by not concentrating throughout the game."

CUC controlled the play over the first 20 minutes through possession and aggressive defense. In the second minute, Natalie Weinhold (St. Peters, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) and Nikki Anderson (Montgomery, IL/Oswego) combined on the left side to free Weinhold. She crossed the ball past the MBBC keeper and Alisha Johnson (Coal City, IL/H.S.) finished on the back post to stake the Cougars to an early lead.

Johnson was a dominant force throughout the first half as she physically overwhelmed any defender in her vicinity. She shredded the Maranatha defense time and again and was an unstoppable force on the right side of the field. In the 13^th minute, Elizabeth Sanders (St. Louis, MO/Parkway South) found the end of a Johnson cross in the middle of the box and finished. Just a minute later, the sequence repeated itself as the Johnson to Sanders connection netted another goal. 

In the 20^th minute, Kaely Fitterling (Pattonville, MO/H.S.) played a short corner with Natalie Weinhold. Weinhold dribbled toward goal drawing defenders and played the ball to Anderson who one-timed it to Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St Edward). Kruk put a beautiful volley into the roof of the net for a 4-0 CUC advantage.

The Cougars looked to be in control, but the Sabercats rallied to make a game of it. Maranatha's Natascha Vinz netted the next two tallies to make it a 4-2 game at the half.

Concordia-Chicago came out for the second half, looking to reestablish the control they had earlier in the game. But it was Maranatha that scored from close range in the 49^th minute to make it a nervous 4-3 lead.

Finally, the Cougars revived and began to play their game. In the 59^th minute, the continued threat of Johnson on the right pulled defenders out of position leaving a gap. Right back Fitterling played a tremendous ball through for Kruk to break in on goal and score her second of the game.

The Cougars gradually reasserted themselves some more as Gabby Garza (Fenton, MI/Lake Fenton) continued the positive play on the right with a physical battle up and down the field. Megan Albregts (Romney, IN/McCutcheon) played with composure at center back and at center midfield as she continued her run of great play this season. In the 86^th minute, the Cougars got their desired insurance goal as Johnson played a cross to Anderson to tap home for the 6-3 margin.

The next match for the Cougars is Sunday when they host NACC rival Lakeland College at 1:00. The team will celebrate Senior Day as they honor Elise Bicek (Mokena, IL/Lincoln-Way East), Haley Graner (Waukesha, WI/Waukesha West), Calle Hasselbring (Houston, TX/Cypress Ridge), Anne Rockert (Herscher, IL/H.S.) and manager Cassie Sarokin (Green Bay, WI/NEW Lutheran) for their contributions to building the CUC women's soccer program.