Oct. 24, 2018 - The Concordia-Chicago women's soccer regular season came down to one match this evening for all the marbles. The Cougars battled the host Aurora University Spartans with a conference tournament berth at stake. A win or draw would send the Cougars through, and CUC answered the challenge with some of their most inspired and gritty playing of the season in taking a 3-1 victory

The Cougars came out aggressively in the opening minutes, but most of the play was concentrated in the middle of the field, and the match went the first 17 minutes before either team was credited with a shot. Concordia-Chicago was not credited with a shot until the 24th minute when Sydney Rainey's attempt went high. But, one minute later, CUC's second shot produced the all-important first goal. Samantha Wozniak surprised everyone from the middle of the field when she cranked up a shot from the 20-yard line. The ball dipped just before it reached the crossbar, and the Aurora keeper could only get her fingertips on the ball before it struck the back of the netting.

Aurora spent the remainder of the half pushing forward to get a tying goal, but the defense in front of goalkeeper Maddie Kroll was able to break up most of the chances before they could result in quality shots. Then, with the first-half clock under two minutes, Esmeralda Torres controlled the ball in the attack zone. She dribbled through the middle of the field before laying the ball off to Cecilia Kochanek. From about 15 yards out, Kochanek fired just inside the right post, stunning the Spartans and their fans. The Cougars stopped one more Spartans' attack in the final minute, going to the locker room at half with a 2-0 lead.

Beginning the second half, the Cougars did not go into a defensive shell but instead made the Spartans' task practically insurmountable in the 59th minute. Wozniak struck for a second time, controlling the ball before finding a space and firing from the right wing. The ball eluded the reach of the diving keeper, settling inside the left post for a three-goal margin.

With six minutes remaining, Aurora found a sliver of hope as a corner kick produced a huge scrum in front of the net. Alyssa Munoz eventually poked the ball home from point-blank range to pull the Spartans within 3-1. However, the CUC defense did not allow the home team any more quality chances, and time ran out shortly afterwards, allowing the Cougars to celebrate their first trip to the conference tournament since 2016.

"I'm feeling so many things right now - happy, proud and excited," said CUC head coach Shayni Paul. "Our players responded to the challenge and gave a great effort throughout the entire game. "We made a big step as a team tonight, and now let's get ready for Saturday and see if we can take the next step forward." 

Concordia-Chicago found out its destination approximately 20 minutes after their game went final. A 2-2 draw between Marian University and Edgewood College meant that the Cougars jumped over Marian to finish fifth in the standings. As a result, CUC will travel to fourth-seeded Concordia University Wisconsin for a first-round match beginning at 1 p.m. The Cougars and Falcons played just last Saturday with CUW taking a 1-0 win on a very windy day in Mequon, WI.