Oct. 20, 2018 - Hopes for a berth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament will come down to the final day of the regular season for the Concordia-Chicago women's soccer team. A chance to clinch a spot today was foiled by the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons as they defeated the Cougars 1-0 on a chilly and windy afternoon in Mequon, WI.

The opening minutes saw both teams looking to get on top early. The Cougars had a shot by Brianna Welch go high and one by Meghan Vasseur saved by CUW keeper Olivia Kindt. On the other end, Allison McElwee and Alexandra Tomich had the early opportunities for the home team, but Maddie Kroll was up to the task in saving both. Later in the half, the Falcons saw a golden opportunity slip away as Welch cleared the ball away just in the nick of time. 

In the 26th minute, however, CUW would not be denied. McElwee struck for her sixth of the season, assisted by Nicole Ciesielczyk, and the Falcons took a 1-0 lead. The remainder of the half was played at a slower pace with only three more shots, all by the home team, and the first 45 minutes came to an end still with the 1-0 score.

The first 30 minutes of the second half were mostly bogged down in the midfield, but the Cougars made a couple of pushes down the stretch. Cecilia Kochanek's shot in the 75th minute prompted a save by Kindt, and Samantha Wozniak's opportunity in the 97th minute went over the goal.

Shots for the game saw the Falcons with 14 to the Cougars' five. Kroll made nine saves to keep the Cougars in the chase.

With regular season play wrapping up this Wednesday, Oct. 24. the Cougars and Marian University find themselves at 5-5 while Aurora University is at 4-4-2, and the three teams are playing for the final two spots. Concordia-Chicago will play at Aurora while Marian will be at Edgewood. Both games will kick off at 7 p.m.