Career Shot Sinks Cobbers In Sweet 16

ITHACA, N.Y. (11/19/11)-- Concordia gave up a pair of long-range goals and lost 2-0 to SUNY-Cortland in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at Ithaca College in New York on Saturday.

The Cobbers wound out outshooting the Red Dragons 15-13 in total shots but couldn't come up with a quality finish and lost for only the second time in the past seven games. CC finishes off their season with a 13-4-6 record.

The deciding factor in the game was a 35-yard shot in the 34th minute that grazed the underside of the crossbar and bounced just inside the goal line. That finish came just after CC freshman Liz Robinson hammered a shot from 20 yards out that just went over the top of the cross bar. It also came right before Concordia had their best chance of the game. The Cobbers controlled the ball in the Cortland end 2:00 after the opening goal. Robinson received an entry pass on the left side of the penalty area and then slotted a pass to Gina Weiss who was in a 1-on-1 situation with a defender at the penalty spot. Weiss then turned outside with surgical precision to free herself of the defender. Her uncontested shot sailed just over the bar as she was losing her footing on the wet surface.

The Cobbers and Red Dragons spent the majority of the second half in the middle part of the field. Cortland was content to drop nine players behind the ball to protect their one-goal lead which limited the time and space for the CC attackers. Concordia had a couple of crossing chances come up just short in the second half but was never able to shake free of the Cortland defense to get an open look at the net.

The second goal of the game came with under two minutes play in the game. After the Cobbers had pushed eight of their 10 field players into the offensive attack to come up with the equalizer, a Red Dragon attacker collected the ball after an errant pass and then lofted a shot over CC keeper Ali Nelson from 40 yards out.

Both teams had five shots on goal for the game. Cortland had two corner kicks as compared to only one for the Cobbers.

Nelson made three saves in goal for Concordia while SUNYAC MVP Pam Monnier stopped five shots in goal for Cortland.