A Huge Point In The Conference Playoff Race

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/21/23)---When is a tie as good as a win?  When it comes in a playoff race against a team that only had one blemish on its record.

That was the storyline for Concordia when they battled regionally-ranked St. Catherine to a 1-1 tie at home. The Cobbers earned a point in the MIAC standings for the draw against the second-place Wildcats, who had only lost one game in conference play.

Concordia is now 6-5-3 in all games and 4-3-2 in league play. CC is in seventh place in the standings with 14 points. They are one point behind the 2-way tie for fifth place but have a game in hand on both Augsburg and St. Olaf.

St. Catherine has its 3-game win streak come to an end. They are 13-3-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the MIAC.

All the scoring in the game came in a span of 8 minutes at the end of the first half. Freshman Emma Sheflo gave Concordia a 1-0 lead, when she took a pass from Hannah Mukhtar, raced down the right wing and then unleashed a hammer of a shot from the top of the penalty area that found the left corner of the net.

The goal at 36:06 was Sheflo's team-leading fifth of the season, and Mukhtar earned her first assist of the season.

The Wildcats would tie the game just before the halftime break. St. Kate's was able to quick-strike the CC defense when they delivered a pass to the left wing after winning the ball in the middle of the field. The Wildcat attacker raced toward the goal, drew both of the Cobber central defenders and then slid a pass to a wide-open teammate who 1-timed the pass from 7-yards out of the goal.

The equalizer at 43:12 would end the scoring on the day as both team's defenses stepped up in the second half.

Concordia held a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal, while St. Kate's had a 9-8 edge in total shots.

Sheflo led all players with three shots, and Sophia Robinson and Amber Weibye both had two shots.

Cobber goalie Bre Nelson made only two saves but did a great job cutting off crosses and long passes into the penalty area all game long.
  
UP NEXT: Concordia will have a pair of games next week to finish off the regular season. CC will play at St. Scholastica on Wednesday, Oct. 25 and then end conference play at home against St. Olaf on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 3:30 p.m.