Oct. 8, 2016 - The recent scuffling of the Concordia-Chicago men's soccer team has produced some tough results, but this afternoon's 2-1 loss to Lakeland College may have been one of the tougher ones to absorb. The Cougars played well for much of the day and held a 1-0 lead until the Muskies scored twice in the final third of the game.
The Cougars fought off some early pressure from the Muskies, with CUC keeper
Roberto Aragon making a nice save on a dangerous header. Eventually, the Cougars were able to create some chances on the other end of the pitch.. One of them paid off in the 17th minute as
Fabian Robles found
Roberto Avila on the left side just outside of the box. Avila angled in and beat the LU keeper to the far post for his third goal of the season and the 1-0 lead.
A minute after the goal,
Hayden Boyd's header was saved. Later in the half,
Gibril Jobe found some room in the box, but the defense closed in on him a split second before Jobe could fire. While the Cougars were unable to add on, they did well in clamping down on the Muskies. The half ended with the Cougars holding on to the one-goal lead.
The pace of the game picked up in the second half. Avila and Robles had opportunities which were either saved by the keeper or went off-target. On the other end, Aragon made a few good saves, but he was unable to deny the Muskies in the 60th minute. The Cougars were unable to clear the zone, and LU's Dustin Garbe received a quick pass and beat Aragon from 10 yards out to knot the game.
In the 78th minute, the inability to clear again, coupled with a bit of bad luck, allowed Lakeland to take the lead. The Muskies pressed just inside the box with the CUC defense blocking a shot. However, the ball deflected into an open space, and LU's Tyler Norris ran onto the ball and beat Aragon one-on-one.
Concordia-Chicago pressed for the tying goal over the final 12 minutes, but
Peter Kass' shot was saved and
Hayden Boyd's header in the final minutes was just wide right of the net.
The Cougars (2-9-0, 0-5-0 NACC) will return home to face Benedictine University on Wednesday afternoon.
