Perfect Time For Collegiate First

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (9/1215) – Concordia freshman Alison Enno picked a perfect time to score her first collegiate goal. She netted the game winner with five seconds remaining in the first overtime in the Cobbers' 2-1 win at Wis.-Eau Claire.

The game marked the second time in a week that Concordia squared off against a team from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).  Last Friday the Cobbers dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Wis.-Whitewater. 

The Cobbers got on the board in the first half when Morgan Holm crossed a ball off of a corner kick that went between several Blugolds to junior Molly Pignato who fired it past Eau Claire keeper Sammie Lefavie in the ninth minute of the opening period. Concordia would then take a 1-0 lead heading to intermission.

Concordia outshot the UW-Eau Claire 9-2 in the first half but then the Blugolds picked up the pace in the second half and started to take the game to Concordia.

Eau Claire outshot Concordia 12-1 in the second half and kept Cobber goalkeeper Elizabeth Bitzan on her toes for the majority of the half. Bitzan yielded a goal to Caroline Henderson with 26:30 to play in the second half but the Moorhead native was solid from then on.

Deadlocked at 1-1, the Cobbers staved off a furious push from Eau Claire to send the game to sudden death overtime.

The overtime period was reversal of fortune from the second half. The Cobbers were able to keep the ball in Eau Claire's half of the field for the majority of the ten-minute period. With just five seconds remaining, Abby Vogelsong popped the ball into the air allowing freshman Enno to volley it past Lefavie giving the Cobbers the 2-1 overtime win.

College Firsts: The two Cobber goals were collegiate firsts for Enno and Pignato. Enno was playing in her fourth collegiate game while Pignato was making her 16th appearance for the maroon and gold.  

Bouncing Back: After a tough loss to Whitewater Concordia bounced back and managed to beat a solid Eau Claire team. The Cobbers have only lost back-to-back matches twice in the regular season in the past five years.
 
Quotable: "It's an exciting win after last week (against Whitewater). It was good to see us have that perseverance and keep fighting. We're at the point we know we have to lay it all out there each game to get the win. The girls did that today." – Head Coach Kevin Roos

Quotable #2: "After I hit it the first time I knew it would come back as it went right to Abby (Vogelsong). I saw the ball and just kinda bicycle-kicked it in. I didn't really know it went in until everybody started cheering." – Freshman Alison Enno

What's Next: Concordia will open up MIAC play when they square off against Hamline on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 2:30 p.m. in St. Paul.