Non-Conference Magic Continues

ST. PAUL, Minn. (10/03/16)—Sam Gess' first collegiate goal with less than 8-minutes to play in the second half broke a 1-1 tie with Northwestern (Minn.) and gave Concordia a 2-1 win. The victory continues the Cobbers' non-conference success on the year. CC is now 4-1-1 in games outside the MIAC.

The victory also ends a three-game losing skid for the Cobbers. Concordia is now 4-6-1 on the season. The four wins match the total from all of last season. Northwestern, who beat MIAC member Augsburg and tied St. Olaf, has their three-game win streak snapped. The Eagles are now 4-5-1.     

Concordia entered the game without having scored a goal in the past 318 minutes but the Cobbers were set to end that streak quickly as they went on the offensive attack from the opening tap.  Concordia had four shots and the first two corner kicks in the opening 15 minutes of play.

The Cobbers were rewarded in the 19th minute when junior Jacob Schmidt played senior Sage Thornbrugh behind the defense on the wing at the edge of the penalty area. The Northwestern goalie tried to come out and coral the pass but Thornbrugh beat him to the ball. He then slid a pass to the middle of the goal area to Matthew Fulks who was sprinting to keep up with the play. Fulks slid the ball into the net to give CC a 1-0 lead.

The goal at 18:15 was Fulk's second of the season while Thornbrugh earned his second assist of the year.

Concordia held a decisive 14-4 edge in total shots in the first half.

The second half started the same as the first and it looked like Concordia would be able to add to their lead. Unfortunately the game changed in the 67th minute of play when the Eagles tied the game on a free kick from outside the penalty area.

The goal against the run of play gave Northwestern new life and they started to attack the Cobber end on a more frequent basis.

Concordia was able to play through the momentum change and eventually used the wide spaces on the field to get behind the Eagle defense.

Schmidt would set up the game-winning goal when he cut in from the wing and fired a shot that beat the goalie but caromed off the crossbar. The ball bounced in the middle of the Northwestern goal area and Gess showed his goal-scoring touch by being the first player to get to the ball and wasted little time in heading it into the open net.

Neither team was able to come up with a scoring chance in the final seven minutes of play and CC held on for the win.

Concordia outshot Northwestern 20-14 in total shots while the Eagles held a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.
Fulks had a team-high four shots while Gess, Thornbrugh and freshman Aronah Mukhtar all put up three shots.

Concordia goalie Alan Scheuermann made four saves to pick up his third win of the season.   
   
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will welcome Carleton to campus on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12:30 p.m. for the annual Homecoming game.