Cobber senior goalie Keith Sullivan makes a diving stop at the feet of a St. John's player. Sullivan stopped a penalty kick in the second half of the MIAC opener.
Cobber senior goalie Keith Sullivan makes a diving stop at the feet of a St. John's player. Sullivan stopped a penalty kick in the second half of the MIAC opener.
Posted: Sep 18, 2019

Back-And-Forth MIAC Opener

Scoring Summary
1st - 3:39 - Matt Anderson (Saint John's (Minn.))
Game Leaders
Saint John's (Minn.)
G: Matt Anderson - 1
A: Brian Pacceli - 1
Sh: 2 Players (#9, #17) - 2
Sv: Nicholas French - 2
Concordia-M'head
G: N/A
A: N/A
Sh: Sam Gess - 2
Sv: Keith Sullivan - 5
Team Stats
Full stats

MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/18/19)---Concordia traded scoring chances, dead ball opportunities and even penalty kick stops in their back-and-forth MIAC opener in Moorhead. In the end it was a corner kick in the fourth minute of play which gave the Cobbers' their first defeat of the season.

Concordia entered the game unbeaten at 4-0-0 and had outscored its opponents 15-1 but life would be more difficult in conference play and the Cobbers and Johnnies staged a 90-minute, back-and-forth battle that was typical of MIAC play.

St. John's got on the board at 3:39 of the first half when they headed home a service off of a corner kick. It was the first time that the Cobbers had trailed all season long.

Concordia responded by pushing into the offensive half of the field and creating chances through the feet of senior Sam Gess and sophomore Nate Weaver. The Cobbers' play was rewarded in the 32nd minute when Gess was taken down in the penalty area by the SJU goalie and was awarded a penalty kick.

The Johnnie keeper then made a diving save on the spot kick to keep the game at 1-0.

Concordia had several dead ball chances off of long throw-ins and corners in the first half but couldn't come up with the equalizer.

The Johnnies almost doubled the lead at the 57:10 mark when the Cobbers were whistled for a foul in their own penalty area. Senior goalie Keith Sullivan then returned the spot kick save as he dove to his left and tipped the ball around the right post.

The second half mirrored the first with the best chances for both teams coming off dead ball opportunities. Both teams had quality chances with the ball bouncing in the opposing team's penalty area but neither team was able to come away with a finishing strike.

Concordia was outshot 9-4 in total shots and 7-2 in shots on goal. Gess led CC with a pair of shots.

Sullivan turned away six shots and still hasn't conceded a goal in the run of play this year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will hit the road to take on Bethel in Arden Hills on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. The Cobbers will then travel to Superior, Wis. to take on Wis.-Superior on Sunday, Sept. 22.