RIVER FOREST, ILL. - The Concordia University Chicago Cougars capped off the weekend with their home opener where they took on Spalding University. The Golden Eagles and the Cougars duked it out, but the lone goal from freshman Jennifer Reyna (Rochester, Minn.) would defend the home turf and walk away victorious. 

Inside The Box
    - Brooke Sheriff (Simi Valley, Calif.) secured a new career high ten saves in the game while securing her first shutout of the season. 
    - Allie Brown (St. Louis, Mo.) picked up the single assist on the lone goal of the day. 
    - Reyna's lone goal of the day marked the only shot the Cougars took throughout the duration of the game.

How It Happened 
The Golden Eagles wasted no time attacking and took three shots within a few minutes of each other. After breaking Sheriff in and getting her on her toes, two consecutive corner kicks for the Cougars would give them the momentum. 

A through ball from Brown up the right side of the field gave space for Reyna to make a run. After splitting the defenders, Reyna put the ball near post and gave the Cougars their first lead of the season. The Cougars would retain this lead for the remainder of the game. 

After feeling the pressure of falling behind, the Golden Eagles stepped up and managed two high-quality shots as the half expired, but Sheriff successfully warded off the attempts.

Heading into the second half, the Cougars controlled the tempo and held the possession heavily. The Golden Eagles continued to pressure and found themselves with many goal-scoring opportunities. Despite these opportunities, Sheriff continued to battle in the goal and held out to secure the shutout. 

What Coach Garza Had To Say
"Playing at home is always fun because we have our community supporting us," Third year Head Coach Eddie Garza noted. "It's always important to protect your home turf and make it a hard place to play for visiting teams. Today we did just that. It's the first home opener win in a decade which is amazing to think.

"The team is still adjusting to play together but that's common with over half of the team being new. They are still figuring out each others playing style and tendencies. As the season progresses I see us putting together more consistent performances.

The freshmen class has a lot of talent and they strength us in many positions. They complement our strong returning class and I see this team achieving great success."


Following the home opener win, the Cougars will be back on Wednesday, September 3rd as they take on Ripon College at 2:00 pm in River Forest. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.