River Forest, Ill.— On Wednesday, October 4th, the Sabres of Marian University (6-3-3, 5-2-0) made the trek to River Forest to take on the Cougars of Concordia University Chicago (2-9-1, 2-5-0).
A Glimpse of the Box Score:
- The lone Cougar goal of the day came from
Hannah Bowers (Helena, Mont.) in the 77th minute.
- Sophomore goalkeeper
Brooke Sheriff (Simi Valley, Calif.) picked up 8 saves on the day.
How it Went Down
1st Half
The fight on both ends was nothing short of exciting. The first shot for the Cougars came from
Lucia Fullone (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) as she sent a ball to the top left of the goal, however, this ball was deflected by the Sabres goalkeeper. Around the 23rd minute, Luciana Moran Cruz (Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico) took two aggressive shots on goal which both were rejected by the keeper. There was solid play for both the Cougars and Sabres throughout the first half however the Sabres were able to capitalize on a scoring play at the 33rd minute to put them up one goal to nothing.
Denise Carr (Rock Island, Ill.) was determined to tie up the game with her attack on goal which again was ultimately saved.
2nd Half
With a bulk of soccer left to play the teams came out refreshed and ready to battle. To start the half the Sabres had a free kick opportunity which was shut down by the Cougar defense. Carr had once again an excellent effort as she was hustling down the far side looking to tie up the game but was unable to place the ball into the net as the keeper snatched at her efforts. As the 72nd minute approached, a Sabre found themselves a deep goal in the top left corner of the net right out of Sheriff's reach which put Marian up on the Cougars 2-0. Bowers decided that at the 77th minute would be the perfect time for her to score her first goal of the season.
Meagan Wilkinson-McQuaid (Georgetown, Ky.) launched a corner kick and with multiple Sabres and Cougars getting headers on the ball, Bowers was ultimately the one who was able to connect.
Being down one goal the Cougars were doing anything in their power to at least tie the score. It was clear the passion and fight within the Cougars. Wilkinson-McQuaid launched a stunner through the air but it would not squeeze past the keeper. Proof of tremendous efforts came from senior captain
Allie Brown (St. Louis, Mo.) as she attempted a last-second shot but unfortunately, time was not on her side as the clock ran out before the ball grabbed the net.
Despite stellar efforts to make a comeback, the Cougars were not able to persevere past the Sabres.
A Look Into The Future:
The Cougars will look to hop back into the win column on Saturday as they travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on Milwaukee's School of Engineering on Saturday, October 7th, at 1:00 p.m. Coverage for all things women's soccer can be found at cucougars.com/coverage. As well as on social media on Instagram and X @cucwsoc
