Second-Half Goals End Tournament Title Hopes
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Concordia-M'head (11-7-1) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
St. Benedict (15-2-1) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (11/05/13)—A pair of second-half goals ended the tournament title hopes for Concordia as the Cobbers gave up goals in the 46th and 76th minutes and lost 2-1 to St. Ben's in the MIAC semifinals at St. John's.
Concordia finishes the 2013 season with an 11-7-1 overall record. St. Ben's advances to the MIAC title game on Saturday and improves to 15-2-1 on the year.
While the score line was written in the second half of the semifinal game, the game might have been determined in the opening 45 minutes of play. The Cobbers had several quality chances to score and had eight shots in the first half but could never come up with the game-changing first goal. Concordia's best opportunity came with a little under 12 minutes to play when a goalmouth scramble saw several CC shot attempts blocked or saved before the St. Ben's defense was able to clear the ball out of play for a corner.
Concordia almost went up 1-0 in the second minute of the second half when a shot by freshman Carly Mickelson hit the post. The Blazers then opened the scoring less than a minute later when Colleen Bouchard scored on a penalty kick at the 46:56 mark.
The Cobbers would continue their offensive attack to press for the equalizer. Concordia posted four more shots before coming up with the game-tying goal in the 70th minute of play. Senior wing Gina Weiss ran on to a bouncing ball and she was able to head the ball over the goalie. It was Weiss' second goal of the season.
The momentum of tying the game would only last six minutes before the Blazers struck for the game winner. Grace Vaughan had the time to dribble towards the Cobber penalty area and was able to knock a shot into the far side of the net.
Concordia would put up six more shots in the final 14 minutes of play but was never able to get a good enough look to earn the 2-2 tie.
The Cobbers finished the game with 23 total shots as compared to 15 for the Blazers. CSB had a 12-10 edge in shots on goal as the teams combined for an entertaining end-to-end game.
CC goalie Elizabeth Bitzan was credited with 10 saves and St. Ben's keeper Heather Kaluzniak made nine saves to earn her 13th victory of the year.