April 24, 2017 - It was a tale of two days, two games, and it had a happy ending for the Concordia Cougars. The women's lacrosse match, which was begun on April 5, was completed this afternoon, and the Cougars were victorious in the end over the Elmhurst College Bluejays by a score of 10-7.

When the game first started 19 days ago, it was a rainy day with very gusty winds making for tricky playing conditions. The Bluejays took advantage of the prevailing north wind and got off to a 4-1 lead. Late in the half, the Cougars built some momentum and struck with goals by Sonja Sorensen and Jessica Jaimes (her second of the match) to make it a 4-3 contest  Then, with just 1:08 to play before halftime, an injury delay, the weather, fading daylight and a few other considerations all factored into the decision to suspend the gane,

A bright, sunny day with virtually no wind greeted the two teams when they resumed the game at 6:00 this evening. The final 68 seconds of the half were uneventful, but the Cougars began to take over the game a few minutes into the second half. Sydney Fuller and Anna Kellar scored on free-position shots a minute apart to give CUC its first lead of the game at 5-4.

The game remained at 5-4 for a long stretch, and while Concordia held a territorial edge, Elmhurst created some scoring chances that forced CUC goalie Krystal Phillips to come up with some big saves. Finally, at the 13:07 mark, Fuller ended the scoreless drought with her second of the match. Margaret Doane followed ay the 9:15 mark, finishing off a coast-to-coast run and giving the Cougars a 7-4 lead.

The Bluejays regrouped and answered with goals from Grace Knoebel (free-position shot) and Sam Sepke to make it a one-goal game with just under six minutes remaining. But Fuller dashed the visitors' hopes, scoring twice within the next 64 seconds to bump the lead back up to three. Hannah Johnson then scored the Cougars' final goal off a pretty pass from Sarah Smith to make it 10-6 before a final goal by Elmhurst with 90 seconds remaining accounted for the final score.

While Fuller led the attack with her four goals, the scoring was only part of her impact on the game. Fuller recorded 10 draw controls, several of them which led to immediate scoring opportunities for the team, and was also credited with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.

The Cougars (5-11) will play their season finale on Friday afternoon at 5:45 when they host Benedictine University.