RIVER FOREST, Ill. – It's homecoming week here in River Forest. Catch up on all Concordia University Chicago (CUC) athletics action for the week.
 
Women's Soccer (2-8-1, 2-2)
Women's soccer took on two conference opponents at home this week.

The Cougars started the week at home against Illinois Tech. While the Cougars held the Scarlet Hawks off in the first half, a second half push saw CUC fall 1-0. Brooke Sheriff (Simi Valley, Calif.) led the defense with eight saves while Sofia Cazares (Rockford, Ill.) had two shots with one on frame.

CUC then traveled to Wisconsin to take on the Lakeland University Muskies.  Grace Chavez (Morgan Hill, Calif.), Morgan Burnap (Strafford, N.H.), Luciana Morán Cruz (Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico), Stacey Maskery (Alfreton, England), and Lucie Carter (Valparaiso, Ind.) all scored their first career goals for the maroon and gold, blanking the Muskies, 5-0. Mia Hirayama (Mililani, Hawaii) totaled five shots with three on goal and tallied an assist.

This week, women's soccer continues NACC play, playing Aurora University on Wednesday, October 1, at 7:00 pm. Then on Sunday, October 5, CUC hosts St. Norbert College at 1:00 pm.
 
Men's Soccer (1-8-1, 0-4)
Men's soccer also took on Illinois Tech and Lakeland this week.

CUC fell 3-1 to the Scarlet Hawks. Chase Zizak (Muskegon, Mich.) recorded a career-high six saves while also stood his ground in the box, denying Illinois Tech more opportunities. Justin Ocampo (Melrose Park, Ill.) scored the Cougars' lone goal on a penalty kick and had both of his shots on goal.

Against Lakeland, the Cougars fell 5-2. Bernardo Delgado (Morelia, Michoacán) and Giovanni Lechuga (Monrovia, Calif.) scored CUC's goals while Kyle Schultz (Pingree, Ill.) recorded a career-high 11 saves in goal. Michael Senese (Naperville, Ill.) tallied both assists. 
 
The men's soccer team returns to River Forest for the week. On Wednesday, October 1, they will take on Aurora at 2:00 pm. Then on Sunday, October 5, CUC will take on St. Norbert at 3:30 pm.
 
Women's Volleyball (3-7, 0-0)
The women's volleyball team opened conference play and competed in the Alma College Invitational.

CUC took on Rockford University for the first Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) competition of the season. It was a five-set thriller, but the Cougars fell 3-2. Indiah Day (Merrillville, Ind.) had an all-around powerful night where she had a season and career-high 28 digs as well as season and career-high 23 kills to lead the Cougars. Day also added two aces. Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) was the only other Cougar to reach double-digits in kills, with 12. Hunt also had three blocks, as well as two assists. Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) had a season high 50 assists and Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) and Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) shared the wealth in the back line where they had 16 and 15 digs respectively.

The Alma Invitational took place September 26-27. On day one, the Cougars played Calvin University and lost 3-0. Day led the squad with six kills while Hunt totaled five kills and two service aces. Roethel and Adler each totaled five digs, while Adler also added 10 assists. The next day, CUC played two matches. The Cougars first took on Anderson University (Ind.), falling 3-0. Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) led the offense with 10 kills and had a block. Day and Roethel led defensively with 12 and 11 digs, respectively. CUC's final match was against Alma College, winning 3-0. Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) led the squad with 11 kills and seven digs, followed by Day, who totaled 10. Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) secured seven kills, five blocks, and three digs for a strong all-around match.
 
This week, the Cougars return to NACC play and host Edgewood University on Thursday, October 2, at 7:00 pm in Geiseman Gymnasium. Then on Saturday, October 4, CUC travels to play St. Norbert at 12:00 pm.
 
Cross Country
The Cougars will race on Saturday October 4 at the 25^th Annual Warrior Cross Country, hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College in West Allis, Wis.
 
Football (2-2, 0-2)
The Cougars took on Wisconsin Lutheran College and fell 28-6.

Jakob Redmond (Bishop, Calif.) passed for 86 yards on nine completions, including one touchdown. Redmond also rushed for 26 yards. Ja'Shawn Hall (Columbus, Ga.) recorded his first career touchdown for the Cougars with a 12-yard catch. Joron Brown (St. Joseph, Mich.) led on the ground with 84 yards, including a 22-yard rush to open the second half. In the air, Wesley Jackson (Robinson, Ill.) led the Cougars with three receptions for 48 yards, including a 28-yard catch. Kadin Stroer (Warrenton, Mo.) picked up 10 tackles, six of which were solo, and one tackle for loss. Dominic Espinoza (Castaic, Calif.) recorded a career-high six tackles, three of which were solo.

On Saturday, October 4, the Cougars host the Red Devils of Eureka College. Game time is set for 1:00 pm.
 
Women's Tennis (0-8, 0-3)
The women's tennis team took a break from NACC play for two non-conference matches.

CUC played Illinois College on Saturday, September 27, and fell 7-0. Amelia Engelman (McKinney, Texas) had a close singles matchup against her opponent where they entered a tie-breaking round after each player had won a set. Engelman got off to a strong start, securing the first set 7-5. However, her opponent quickly took the second set 6-3 to level the match. The final set was decided by a tiebreaker match where Engelman unfortunately fell 10-3. While Amirah Shakir (Dekalb, Ill.) ultimately fell in straight sets with a score of 6-2 and 6-1, her effort was a testament of her tenacity of the game. Hannah Upole (Hinkley, Ohio.) showed promise in her singles match where she came close in set one, falling 6-3, but could not match the energy in set two and fell 6-0. The duo of Engelman and Shakir put up a valiant fight in their doubles match, but fell short, 6-1.

The next day, CUC hosted Illinois Wesleyan University and fell 7-0. Courtneye Schneider (Plainfield, Ill.) picked up a game win in the first set of her number six singles match before falling 6-1, 6-0. Shakir earned two games in a competitive first set at number two singles but was unable to carry that momentum into the second, falling 6-2, 6-0.

This week the team will return to NACC play. CUC will travel to Mequon, Wis. to face Concordia University Wisconsin at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, October 1. Then on Saturday, October 4, CUC will host St. Norbert at 10:00 am and then play a non-conference match against Ripon College at 2:00 pm. On Sunday, October 5, the Cougars will play Edgewood in a NACC matchup in Madison, Wis. at 2:00 pm.
 
Esports
Esports played two matches this week.

In Smash, the Cougars took on Buena Vista University (BVU) and fell 2-0. In the first game, CUC tried to hold the line against BVU's captain but could only take four of their 12 stocks to drop game one 12-4. In the second game, BVU's King K Rool player was able to take all twelve of CUC's stocks while only losing two of their own. CUC is now 0-1 and the next match will be Tuesday, September 30, at 6:00 pm. The Cougars will play Thomas More University.

In Overwatch, CUC competed against North Park University in a best-of-five match. In game one, Connor Bleazard (Saint Joseph, Mo.) and Luis Cortes (Maywood, Ill.) took command with their unique attacking styles. Bleazard went 28-6-9 with 16k damage while Cortes went 21-13-11 with 8k damage to lead the Cougars to a 2-1 victory and lead the series 1-0. The Cougars were familiar with map in the second game, quickly going on the attack for a 1-0 lead. Julia Pataluna (Commerce City, Colo.) was superb in her supportive play in the back line but the Vikings would overcome the Cougars to win the game 2-1 and tie the series at 1-1. In game three, the Vikings used their momentum from the previous game to take a commanding lead early in the push. Damian Avalos (Chicago, Ill.) and Connor Lewandowski (West Dundee, Ill.) led a comeback with their playmaking abilities, but the Cougars came up just short to go down 1-2 in the series. CUC wouldn't go down without a fight and fought with everything they had in game four. With the leadership and playmaking of Bleazard's Sigma pick, the Cougars bolted to an early 3-0 lead on attack in less than three minutes. Winning game four 3-1, CUC tied up the series at 2-2 and forced a fifth game. The final game was Flashpoint. The Cougars were put on the backfoot, 2-0, and came up short of a comeback, falling 3-1 and losing the overall match 3-2. Now 0-1, CUC looks to bounce back on Friday, October 3, when the Cougars play Waldorf University at 7:00 pm.
 
You can keep up with all things CUC Athletics on Twitter @CUChicagoSports, watch all the action at cucougars.com/coverage, and view all photos from the seasons here.