RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Similar to the 2018 season, the 2019 Concordia-Chicago Cougars have come down to their final regular season game, needing a victory, to clinch a playoff berth.
Setting the Scene... Concordia-Chicago will travel to Milwaukee, Wis. tomorrow evening for a 7 p.m. tilt to take on the MSOE Raiders. MSOE has clinched a playoff spot and will be either the three or four seed heading into the tournament. Live stats and video coverage for tomorrow night's match can be found at
cucougars.com/coverage.
What's at Stake... With a win tomorrow against MSOE, CUC will automatically clinch the sixth-spot into the 2019 NACC tournament. However, with a draw the Cougars could still clinch the sixth-seed, pending Illinois Tech either earns a draw or defeats Marian. If Concordia falls to the Raiders tomorrow, their playoff hopes could be kept alive if IIT wins or draws
and Benedictine loses or draws with Alverno.
Last Time Out... CUC picked up a critical 1-0 win over Edgewood on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive. Senior
Samantha Wozniak earned a penalty kick in the 58th minute that was converted into the game-winning goal. The Cougars held the Eagles to just four shots during the contest, while
Aleksia Vranjes and
Kassie Silenzi combined in net for the shutout win.
Deja Vu... Last season's playoff implications came down to the wire too, as CUC had to defeat Aurora at Spartan Park to fight their way into the 2018 tournament. Living up to the challenge, the Cougars blanked the Spartans 3-0, under the lights, thanks to
Cecilia Kochanek's game-winning goal and a pair of goals from
Samantha Wozniak to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Scouting the Raiders... MSOE is 11-5-2 this season with a notable 2-0 win over Aurora and clutch draw at Illinois Tech earlier in the year. Averaging 3.00 goals per game, the Raider offense is headed by Caitie LeVasseur who has 15 goals and four assists to date. Aside from LeVasseur, MSOE has 13 other goal scorers who have contributed to the offense. On the defensive side, Abbie Lorenz averages 1.07 goals allowed per game in the team-high 923 minutes of play in goal.
