<ast Saturday, the Carleton College Women’s Soccer team looked to get back over .500 again, and to move into the top half of the MIAC standings as they took on their nemesis from Concordia College at Bell Field. The Cobbers ousted the Knights in a PK shootout in last year’s MIAC tournament final and have beaten or tied the Knights in each of their last five meetings. Ultimately, despite strong play from the Knights, that streak continued as the Cobbers held the Knights to a nail-biting, double-overtime 0-0 tie.
Looking to capitalize on Concordia’s compact, defensive style of play, the Knights came out with an aggressive game-plan. Playing through leading scorer Lily VanderStaay ’12, the Knights created plenty of chances, controlling possession for much of the game. In fact, Carleton outshot the Cobbers by a count of 25-11. Towards the end of the first half, the Knights offensive pressure broke through the tough Concordia defense, leading to some serious chances.
The first of those serious chances came in the 38th minute as Cassie Burke ’12 and Ellie Wilson ’15 broke down the Cobber defense, leading to a shot from Bailey Ulbricht ’14. Although Ulbricht’s shot deflected off of the crossbar, the Knights had several other great opportunities, including a shot from Vanderstaay that forced Concordia goalkeeper Ali Nelson ’13 to make a near-impossible save.
After halftime, Carleton came out with an even more aggressive attack, quickly throwing the Cobbers on their heels. After forcing Concordia goalkeeper Ali Nelson (’13) to make several tricky saves, the Knights once again challenged the crossbar in the 75th minute. This time it was midfielder Zoe Suche ’13 who found Nelson stuck in no-man’s land, and struck a beautiful ball from the top of the penalty box. Unfortunately, Suche’s shot was slightly too strong, and once again the Cobbers were saved by the crossbar.
Carleton also experienced some relief from the crossbar. In the 65th minute, Sarah Rounds ’13, the Cobbers’ leading scorer last year, launched a rocket over the head of keeper Beth Ashinsky ’13, which fortunately deflected off the top of the bar. Rounds, whose 13 total points lead all MIAC players this season, was the clear lynchpin of the Cobber offense throughout the game. However, thanks to stellar defense by the Knights’ back line, led by Megan Morrison ’13, Abby Wills ’12, Rachel Foran ’12, and Layne Teska ’14, Rounds was never able to find her attacking stride. Morrison in particular shot down several offensive attempts from Rounds, limiting her to only 4 shots. In addition, stellar play from Ashinsky kept the Knights strongly in the game, as the Carleton keeper pulled off several saves in the second half to maintain a defensive edge.
As the clock ticked into sudden-death overtime, it was clear Carleton was in control. Other than a few flashes of energy from Rounds, the Cobber offense remained quiet throughout the entire overtime period. Unfortunately, the Knights could not manage to slip a goal past Nelson. In the 119th minute, Carleton gave one final effort as Sarah Hagerty ’13 made a strong run down the left sideline, finding her teammate and defending MIAC player of the year Niki Tomita ’12. Tomita slipped a pass to Wilson, but her shot wound up in the hands of Concordia keeper. That final save of the game was the 11th for Nelson, sealing the scoreless draw.
Despite the disappointing tie, the Knights out-shot, and arguably out-played the always dangerous Cobbers, earning themselves a valuable point in MIAC play. The Knights next faced Macalester on Wednesday (too late for this issue), and are away at Gustavus Adolphus this weekend.