An NCAA Playoff-Style Thriller In Illinois

WHEATON, Ill. (10/08/12)—Concordia battled No.16-ranked Wheaton through 109 minutes of even soccer before finally falling 4-3 on a penalty kick in the final minute of the second overtime. The Cobbers and Thunder staged an NCAA-type back-and-forth thriller that saw a pair of two-goal swings, 46 total shots, 29 shots on goal and enough dramatic moments for an entire season.

Concordia proved equal to the national-caliber contest as they scored as many goals as the Thunder has conceded in the past three seasons. Wheaton has only allowed one other team to score more than two goals in a single game in the past 45 contests and that came in last year's NCAA Championship game when Messiah College downed the Thunder 3-1.

The Cobbers, who entered the game ranked third in the North Region of the latest NSCAA poll, see their four-game winning streak come to an end. CC is now 8-3-1 overall. Wheaton, who was third in the Central Region but also 16^th in the country, improves to 11-2-1 on the season and is unbeaten in their last four games.

Concordia dug themselves a huge hole in the first 23 minutes of the game. Playing against one of the top teams in the country on a field where they had only lost once in the past 43 games, the Cobbers gave up two goals in a span of 5:22 and fell behind 2-0 just 22:59 into the game. Wheaton opened the scoring at 17:37 on a rebound off of a blocked shot and then added a second on a goal that came after the Thunder attacker got behind the entire Cobber defense, including goalie Ali Nelson, 15 yards out from goal and then calmly slid the ball into the open net.

The Cobbers' comeback started just before the halftime break. Sophomore defender Libby Fransdal scored her second big goal off of a free kick in as many games when she lofted a crossing service that the Wheaton goalie failed to handle and it trickled into the net. After not having scored a single goal in her first 33 games in a Concordia uniform, Fransdal has now netted two almost identical goals in back-to-back games.

The Concordia comeback was complete less than 11 minutes into the second half. Junior wing Gina Weiss was played through the back of the Thunder defense by midfielder Elizabeth Robinson and she beat the keeper on the 1 v. 1 breakaway. For Weiss it was her fourth goal of the season and third in the past four games.

It looked like Wheaton would win the game on a rebound goal in the 62^nd minute of play but a last-minute equalizer sent the game into overtime. The Thunder scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound from a shot on the right wing at the 62:00 mark which set up the late-game heroics from Swedish transfer Emma Ekdahl. The Cobbers won the ball in the middle of the field off of a goal kick with just under 1:00 to play in regulation. The ball went right to Weiss who slid a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area to a wide open Ekdahl cutting behind the Thunder defense. Ekdahl then slid the ball into the lower corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3. It was Ekdahl's first collegiate goal.

Wheaton had the better of the play in both overtime periods. Nelson had to come up with a pair of huge saves in the first OT period for the Cobbers but then watched as a Wheaton attacker was brought down from behind inside the CC penalty area in the final minute of the second overtime period. Unfortunately Nelson would not be able to stop the spot kick as Wheaton junior transfer Leah DeMoss hammered the ball into the upper right corner of the net. DeMoss transferred from the University of Iowa at the beginning of the season after scoring 13 goals for the Hawkeyes in her first two seasons of college play.

Wheaton held an 18-11 advantage in shots on goal for the game. The Thunder also came away with a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Nelson finished the game with 14 saves while Wheaton goalie Kelsey Graham stopped eight shots to earn her sixth win of the season.

The Cobbers will return to Minnesota and return to play in the MIAC when they play at Bethel on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. The Royals are currently in second place in the MIAC standings, just two points behind first-place Concordia.