ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears Rocket League team (0-2) fell 3-0 in Monday night's five-game series with Central Methodist (2-1) in the group stage of the NACE Fall Rocket League Championship.
The Golden Bears decreased the margin of victory for the Eagles in each game, but they were unable to overcome the deficit as Central Methodist claimed the sweep on the night.
CSP received a strong performance from
Phung Khang as she scored all three goals for the team while also leading the way with four saves on the night.
David Voelker added an assist and a pair of saves while
Nordell Brooks had two saves and
Rocket Robertson had one.
In the first game of the night, the Eagles came out firing as they scored three goals in the opening 45 second to build a comfortable lead. Central Methodist continued to add to their lead throughout the contest as they cruised to a 9-0 in the opener.
CMU followed with a strong start to game two with a pair of goals in the first 36 seconds, but the Golden Bears' defense buckled down and held them off the board for the next two minutes of play. That drought was brought to a close with three goals in 16 seconds before Central Methodist added another at the 1:28 mark. Khang got the Golden Bears on the board in the final minute as she tallied the team's first goal of the night with 50 seconds to go to bring the final margin to five at 6-1.
It was a defensive battle early on in the third as CSP trailed 1-0 through the first 2:15 of play. The Eagles added two goals to the lead midway through the five-minute period before Khang trimmed the gap to two at 3-1 with 2:08 to play. Central Methodist pushed it back to three 24 seconds later, but Khang answered again with a goal at the 1:23 mark to keep Concordia in it at 4-2. CMU added some breathing room with a goal 10 seconds later, but that proved to be all the scoring in the game as the Eagles held on for a 5-2 win to claim the series 3-0.
CSP will look to get into the win column in round four as they face an opponent to be determined at 7 p.m.
