Kelsey Swagger controls the ball in the team's 4-1 win at Augsburg. Swagger scored the game-winning goal for Concordia.
(Photo courtesy of Brad Kowalski)
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2nd Half |
Final |
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (10/10/09)-- Concordia erupted for three goals in the second half against Augsburg on Saturday in Minneapolis and cruised to a 4-1 win. The victory is the 12th straight to start the season for the Cobbers and ties the all-school record for best start of a season. The 1995 Cobber baseball team, led by World Series champion Chris Coste, started the year 12-0 before losing to St. John's in their 13th game.
More importantly for the Cobbers, it gives them three more conference points and keeps them in first place in the league standings. CC is now 7-0-0 in conference play and is three points clear of St. Thomas who is also unbeaten at 6-0-0. The win also keeps Concordia among the ranks of the unbeaten and untied teams in the nation. The Cobbers are now one of only five teams that are currently unbeaten or untied. Of those five, CC has the most wins at 12-0-0.
Concordia carried the majority of play throughout the game as they tried to break down the Auggie defense with passing combinations. Augsburg was content to knock the ball as far down the field as they could whenever the got control of the ball in order to score on a counterattack.
The Cobbers got on the board first when Sam Johnson broke free of the defense and buried her league-leading 13th goal of the year. Her score at 24:12 was set up by a pass from Sarah Rounds. Concordia's lead would be short-lived as the Auggies struck less than one minute later. An Auggie attacker served a ball into the Cobber penalty area and the ball caromed off the hands of CC goalie Ali Nelson and onto the waiting foot of Courtney Barthel who notched her third goal of the year at 24:38.
The teams would head into halftime level at 1-1 with Concordia holding an 8-5 advantage in shots.
The second half was all Concordia. They scored withing the first two minutes of the period and then didn't let up, scoring three goals in a span 25 minutes. The game-winning goal came courtesy of defender Kelsey Swagger. An Auggie clearing attempt was played to Swagger, who was standing 25 yards out from goal, and she neatly fired a shot over the top of the Augsburg goalie and into the top of the net. It was her second goal of the year.
Rounds and Brittany Mayer followed suit for the Cobbers. Rounds sent home a shot after a deflection in front of the goal. Johnson and Killashandra Link were credited with assists on the play. It was Johnson's league-leading 29th point of the year. The 29 points is a career-best for the junior forward whose previous season high was 27 back in 2007. Link also added an assist on the final goal of the game. Mayer, the team's central midfielder, hammered a shot off the crossbar from 20 yards out. It was her first goal of the year and second of her career. Link's helper was her fourth in as many games and also her fifth assist in the last six games. Junior Abby Habein picked up her team-leading eighth assist on the play.
Concordia doubled the Auggies in shots for the game. CC had an 18-9 advantage in total shots and a 9-5 edge in shots on goal. Nelson made four saves to earn her 11th win of the season for CC. Augsburg goalie Diana Bocklund stopped five shots in the losing effort.
The Cobbers will go for the school record for wins to start a season when they play at Hamline on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m.
