Rally Falls One Goal Short

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (9/24/11)—Concordia almost overcame an early 2-0 deficit against Carleton on Saturday but their rally fell one goal short and the Cobbers lost 2-1.

The loss is the second straight for the Cobbers and drops their overall record to 3-4-1. CC remains winless in the MIAC and is now 0-2-1 in league play. The Knights remain unbeaten in the conference, moving to 2-0-0. They also evened their overall mark, moving to 3-3-1 in the first seven games of the season.    

27 minutes into Concordia’s game against Carleton at home on Saturday it looked like the Cobbers were doomed to another lopsided loss. CC had just given up two goals in a span of 10 minutes and was down 2-0 midway through the opening period. That is when Concordia dug deep, refused to let history repeat itself and got back in the game.  

The rally was sparked by an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 play nominee when sophomore midfielder Bobby Spoja unleashed a 25-yard curling blast that snuck under the bar and brought CC to within one at 2-1. Spoja’s second goal of the season at 42:52 set the stage for a classic MIAC nailbiter for the final half of play.

The Cobbers had chances in the second half but were never able to come up with an equalizer. After getting outhsot 8-5 in the first period, Concordia came back to hold a 4-2 edge in the second 45 minutes of play. Overall, The Knights had a 10-9 advantage in overall shots and a 4-3 margin in shots on goal. CC had five corner kicks as compared to four for Carleton.

Concordia goalie Peter Runquist made two saves while Knight keeper James Neher also turned aside two shots to earn the win.

The Cobbers will look for their first conference win when they play at St. Thomas in St. Paul on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m.