The Final Check Mark

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/17/2015) --- You can finally place a check mark in the last box on Concordia's to-do list of becoming a solid college soccer team.

Heading into Saturday the only thing missing from the Cobbers' resume was a win over a top-tier MIAC team. After 90 minutes against league-leading St. John's that is no longer the case as CC scored a goal in both periods to upset the regionally-ranked Johnnies 2-1.

Freshman Trevor Carr's goal in the 58th minute proved to be the difference as Concordia handed St. John's their first conference loss of the season.

Concordia has now won two straight games at home and two of its last four games and moves to 2-6 in the MIAC and 3-11 overall. The Johnnies lose for the first time in 11 games and drop to 10-2-2 overall and 5-1-1 in league play.

For the second straight home Concordia got on the board in the first 10 minutes of play and made their opponent chase the game for the majority of the opening period.

Sophomore Jacob Schmidt volleyed home the opening goal of the game at the 6:50 mark of the first half. Cobber defender Joe Thomas won a head ball in the middle part of the field. The ball went to teammate Adam Kessler who one-time the ball forward to Schmidt. Schmidt in turn played the ball forward to the right wing for Dami Adegunle and the counterattack was at full speed.

Adegunle then beat the SJU defense to the ball and crossed the ball to the middle of the goal. The ball caromed out to the penalty spot after the SJU goalie and a CC attacker collided in pursuit of the cross.  Schmidt, who never stopped running up the field after he fed the ball to Adegunle, met the ball before a Johnnie defender and hit a one-time volley with his left foot that found the left side netting.

Concordia would then spend the majority of the first half defending en masse and then breaking quickly into the attack. St. John's was able to get a pair of quality chances before getting the game-tying goal at 36:54. The Johnnies played the ball to the right wing where Alex Niederloh fed Paul Wagen in the middle of the penalty area. Wagen made a quick turn to his right, spun away from his defender and buried a left foot shot into the far left corner of the net.

Both teams had three shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes of play but SJU wound up outshooting the Cobbers 8-3 in total shots.

The game was decided on an unassisted goal at the 57:30 mark of the second half. The ball was played back and forth in the air just inside the St. John's defensive end. Carr then took control of the ball 35 yards away from goal, dribbled towards the top of the penalty area and then fired a shot that deflected off of a Johnnie defender and rolled just inside the left post.

The tally was Carr's first collegiate goal and set the stage for a wild finish. Both teams traded chances until the final 10 minutes of play when Concordia dropped an extra player into defense to protect the one-goal lead.

The Cobbers were able to withstand a final flurry from the Johnnies to earn the one-goal win and a victory over a team that was ranked fifth in the most recent NSCAA North Region poll.

Concordia wound up outshooting St. John's 4-3 in shots on goal. SJU had a 15-7 edge in total shots and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Carr and Schmidt each had a team-high two shots for the Cobbers while goalie Ben Glogoza made two stops to earn his third win of the season.

STREAK BUSTER: The win snapped a five-game losing skid at the hands of the Johnnies. The last time Concordia bested St. John's was in 2009 in a game played at Fargo Shanley. The last win for CC over SJU at home at the Jake Christiansen Athletic Complex came in 1996 when Concordia won the MIAC championship. In that 2-1 win for the Cobbers, the lone St. John's goal was scored by current head coach John Haws.

STREAK BUSTER PART 2: Concordia's goal in the first half snapped a streak of 16 consecutive goals for St. John's against the Cobbers. The last time CC had scored against SJU came back in 2010.

SPREAD THE WEALTH: Concordia has now had eight different players score goals in 2015.  

FIRST EQUALS BEST: All three of the Cobbers' wins have come when they score first in the game. Concordia is now 3-1 on the year when they score the first goal of the game.    

COBBTOBER: After going 1-9 in the month of September, Concordia is now 2-2 in October.

HOME COOKING: All three of the Cobbers' wins have come at home this season. CC is now 3-2 at home this year.
   
WHAT'S NEXT? Concordia will a full week to recover and get ready for a rare away/home back-to-back weekend doubleheader. The Cobbers will play at Bethel on Saturday, Oct. 24 and then return home to host MInn.-Morris on Sunday, Oct. 25.