RIVER FOREST, ILL. – With the end of the first week of school came the first Concordia University Chicago women's soccer (0-1, 0-0) game of the year, as the team played host to University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers (1-0, 0-0). Platteville's Arianna Lombardi was the star of the day, as she totaled three goals to hand the Cougars a 3-0 loss on opening day.
-Inside the Box Score
-How it Happened
1st Half
Offense was sparse to start the game. The first shot came 3:25 into the match off the foot of Lucia Fullone, but it was saved by Platteville keeper Madison Way.
Platteville started to find their rhythm 11:55 into the game, when the Pioneers generated four shots within three minutes, but none of those shots found their way to the net.
The ball finally found its way into the net at the 21:09 mark, when Platteville's Arianna Lombardi snuck one into the bottom right corner, giving her squad a 1-0 lead.
Following the opening goal, the Pioneers maintained possession for most of the remaining time. However, Cougars goalie Auloni Burnell stood tall, making six saves by the time the clock hit zero. At halftime, the score read 1-0 in favor of Platteville.
2nd Half
Defense remained prevalent to start the back-half of the game. Other than a shot by Platteville and another save from Burnell, only one other shot was registered when Melica Kenworthy (New Lenox, Ill.) missed the net on a free kick.
At the 57:34 mark, Lombardi potted her second goal of the day, thanks to an assist from Lydia Smith, upping the Pioneers's lead to 2-0.
Smith came inches away from scoring a goal herself at 64:00, but rang her shot off the corner of the goal. It was all Platteville after that, as the ball barely left the Cougars's third of the field. Burnell kept her hot play alive though, making four saves over nearly 30 minutes of play.
But the Pioneer pressure finally paid off at 85:01 when Lombardi completed the hattrick with her third goal of the day. This would be the final tally of the day, with Platteville securing the 3-0 win over Concordia.
-Up Next
After a day off, CUC is back in action Sunday, Sep. 3, at Coe College. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., and coverage can be found at our website, cucougars.com.
