Oct. 14, 2015 - One streak ended but a more important one continued for the Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team with this afternoon's non-conference home game against Ripon College. The Cougars prevailed for their fourth straight win over the Red Hawks by a score of 2-1.

The Cougars came into the game playing their best soccer of the year. That continued in the opening minutes as the Cougars applied pressure from the start with multiple shots on net. Finally, in the 12^th minute, there wasa breakthrough. Alisha Johnson (Coal City, IL/H.S.) passed into the box perfectly to the foot of Sydney Fuller (Elkhart, IN/Northridge), who slammed the ball into the net from point-blank range to give the Cougars the early 1-0 lead.

Ripon fought back just eight minutes later. Paige Birschbach, the leading goal scorer for the Red Hawks, dribbled past a Cougar defender and curl a perfect shot into the upper right corner of the Cougars' net just over the outstretched arms of Ally Krajnak (Griffith, IN/H..S.), tying the game at a goal apiece. The goal was the first against Krajnak in a span of 300:50 and the first against the CUC defense in 325:44. 

The Cougars were able to put a few more shots on net that came close, but the two sides headed into the half tied at 1-1. The Cougars had a lead in the shot column at 7-3.

The second half was full of energy as the Cougars came out with three tough shots on net from Johnson and Stephanie Brown (Streamwood, IL/H.S.). The game-winning goal came in the 60^th minute.  Using the outside to her advantage all day, Johnson crossed the ball into the box upon receiving a pass from Gabby Garza (Fenton, MI/H.S.). Johnson's pass found the foot of Natalie Weinhold (St. Peters, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) for the easy finish to give the Cougars the lead for good.

Looking for an insurance goal, the Cougars would continue to apply the pressure over the remaining 20-plus minutes of the game but would be unable to finish. The Red Hawks would come within inches of tying the game in the 89^th minute. After a Cougar foul outside the box, Ripon sent the free kick in, and the shot would be to the far post. However, Emma Stone (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) set up on the far post and was positioned perfectly to keep the ball out of the net to preserve the win.

"I thought it was a good performance overall," said CUC head coach Chris Brown. "We came in with a good game plan and stayed very organized to limit their opportunities. We knew there would be some space in the wide channels, and Alisha created a lot of opportunities for us today."

The Cougars (6-8-0) will look to extend their winning streak to five on Saturday in a NACC matchup against Alverno College. That match is set to kickoff in Milwaukee at 2 p.m.