Oct. 8, 2016 - It was a tale of two halves for the Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team. Frustrated after trailing 1-0 at the half despite controlling most of the pace of play, the Cougars exploded for six goals, led by Sarah LaCost's natural hat trick to take a 6-1 victory over the Lakeland College Muskies in Sheboygan, WI. 

The Cougars had the first scoring chance two minutes kickoff, but Elizabeth Sanders' header went high. Lakeland then moved the ball downfield and capitalized on their first chance as a header by Abby Mauer off a nice cross from the right side snuck into the corner of the net Concordia-Chicago continued to press the attack and was creating about two scoring chances for each one of Lakeland's. Sarah LaCost was robbed from close in on a diving fingertip save by the Muskies' keeper, and Allison Kruk had a header that beat the keeper but went just wide of the right post. Concordia-Chicago finished the half with an 8-6 advantage in shots but still trailed at the half 1-0.

In the second half, the Cougars resumed the attack. They were rewarded in the 53rd minute. as LaCost got the ball from about 18 yards out, turned and hit a hard shot that curled to the upper right side of the net.

LaCost was in the thick of the action again just two minutes later. Katie Biga's pass led LaCost perfectly as she angled in from the left side. With only the keeper to beat, LaCost shot low to the right corner for the 2-1 lead. Shortly afterwards, Emma Stone's pass set up LaCost's third strike in a span of 7:28, marking the second fastest natural hat trick in CUC history (Cheyenne Martinez-Trevino, 1:58 in a 2009 match).

While LaCost was finished scoring, the Cougars were not. More pressure in the offensive zone resulted in a Cougar shot caroming off the post. Alisha Johnson quickly tracked down the ball and sent it back across the goalmouth where a sliding Sanders slammed it home for a 4-1 lead.

Natalie Weinhold figured in both of the Cougars' final two goals. First, she took a pass at the top of the box from Johnson and beat the keeper for her second of the year. Then, she set up Kruk in front of the goal as her hard shot handcuffed the keeper. The Cougars finished the second half with a stunning 17-2 advantage in shots.

Maddie Kroll earned the win in net, playing the final 45 minutes. Ally Krajnak started and played the first half, making CUC's only two saves of the game.

The Cougars (8-4-1, 4-2-0 NACC), winners of three in a row, will take another break from conference play when they travel to Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington on Wednesday night.