ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia University soccer team (1-4-1, 1-2-1 NSIC) opened up their home slate with a 0-0 tie against Minnesota Crookston (2-2-3, 1-1-2 NSIC) on Friday night at Sea Foam Stadium. Concordia opened up homecoming weekend by picking up their fourth conference point and will finish off the weekend against Bemidji State on Sunday.

The Golden Bears put pressure on the Golden Eagles nearly all night but were unable to solve UMC keeper Lexie Gauger as she picked up her third shutout on the season. CU out-shot UMC 17-12 overall and 6-3 on shots on goal and maintained ball control on their attacking end for much of the game.

Concordia keeper Emma Gartner wasn't challenged often on the night but was up to the test as she made three saves and picked up her first shutout of the year. Gartner has been a stalwart in net, playing all 560 minutes for the Golden Bears with 25 saves on the season.


CU Soccer vs U of M Crookston 9.26.2014 - Images by Justin Oakman

Jess Bianchi proved to be a pest for Minnesota Crookston throughout the night as she fired four shots with two on net and another off the post. Alahna Anderson also registered two shots on net while Taryn MacMillan and McKenzie Buck each added one as well.

The game got off to a slow start as the two teams seemed to be feeling each other out in the opening minutes. Things began to open up a bit more later in the first half as the Golden Eagles tallied five corners and the Golden Bears had four in the first 45 minutes. Both teams had opportunities with the ball loose in front of the net but were unable to get a foot on it and put it in the back of the net. Perphaps the best scoring opportunity came in the closing seconds of the half as Shannon Wynne fired a booming shot from over 30 yards out that ended up at the feet of Rachel Gratz, who fired high as time expired.

That late momentum carried over into the second half as the ball barely left Concordia's attacking end for long stretches of time. Bianchi appeared to have the go-ahead goal in the 49th minute as she launched a low shot from about 20 yards out that beat the keeper but clanked off the post and rolled out of danger. Bianchi fired another hard shot towards the upper corner with about nine minutes left but was turned away by Gauger. Neither team was able to create much the rest of the way as the game headed to overtime.

The first overtime session went by pretty uneventfully until a Delaney McIntyre shot with just under 30 seconds left was stopped by Gartner. The second overtime shifted back in the Golden Bear attacking end as CU created three corners and a pair of shots but it wasn't enough to break the tie.

Sunday's match with Bemidji State is set to kick off at 1 p.m. at Sea Foam Stadium.