MANKATO, Minn. - The Concordia Golden Bears soccer team (0-2-0, 0-1-0 NSIC) lost their NSIC opener to the #7 Minnesota State Mavericks (2-0-0, 1-0-0 NSIC) 3-0 on Thursday afternoon in Mankato. Dana Savino scored two goals for MSU.
Concordia held the Mavericks scoreless in the first half before MSU came alive with three second half goals to claim the victory.
Minnesota State's Savino led the offense with a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and Korey Kronforst added the other goal.
"Defensively we played great in the first 45 minutes and had a chance to go up 1-0 going into half against one of the better teams in the country. A few lapses in concentration early in the second half hurt us, but there were a lot of positives to take from the game," said head coach Steve Bellis on the team's performance.
For the Golden Bears, Taryn MacMillan was a rock in the midfield on both ends. She helped CU maintain ball control for decent chunks of the first half and helped limit MSU scoring chances.
Junior McKenzie Buck created havoc on the offensive end with all four shots (one on goal) for Concordia but was unable to capitalize.
The first half was pretty evenly matched as neither team found the back of the net. Concordia attempted all four of their shots in the opening half while the Mavericks attempted 11 shots with three on goal. Emma Gartner (0-2) turned everything aside in the half to help keep the score even.
Minnesota State wasted no time in the second half to break the scoreless tie as Savino put her first goal of the game in the back of the net just 24 seconds into the half. MSU added a pair of insurance goals within a span of a few minutes in the 58th and 60th minutes. The first came off the foot of Kronforst, who picked up her third goal of the year, and the second from Savino to complete her two-goal game. Concordia made a few rushes in the game's final minutes but saw nothing materialize as the stellar Maverick defense held them in check to complete the shutout.
Goalkeeper Molly McGough (3-0) picked up her third straight scoreless performance before Lauren Hoeppner relieved her to finish off the shutout.
The Golden Bears will look to get into the win column this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. As they travel across the border to La Crosse, Wisconsin to take on Viterbo in a non-conference tune-up.
