MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s soccer team made a strong case for a comeback Wednesday afternoon, but ended up losing 3-2 at Concordia College. The Gusties fall to 10-6-1 overall and 7-3 in the MIAC, but even with the loss Gustavus has clinched its first ever MIAC Playoff berth as a result of other teams falling out of playoff contention. The playoff berth is Gustavus’ first postseason appearance since 1998 when it reached the second round of the national tournament, which was five years before the MIAC initiated its playoffs.
“Despite the loss today, we are pleased that we have secured a spot in the conference playoffs,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “It’s a testament to how hard this team has worked all season long. But for now our focus is to finish strong with the last game of the regular season on Saturday and then carry that into next week’s playoffs.”
Concordia led 1-0 at halftime as it scored with less than four minutes remaining in the half. The Cobbers outshot the Gusties 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes.
Gustavus netted the equalizer four minutes into the second half on a goal by Chaselyn Miller (Fy., Brooklyn Park, Minn.), assisted by Maddison Ackiss (Jr., Fairbanks, Alaska). But a pair of Concordia goals within a minute of each other in the 56th minute proved to be too much of a hole to dig out of for the Gusties.
Emily Skogseth (Fy., Burnsville, Minn.) brought the game within one goal at the 69:00 mark, but Concordia held off the strong offensive pressure put on by the Gusties late in the game.
“For the first time in a while we showed true fight in the second half,” Burnett-Kurie said. “That fight allowed us to tie up the game early, where Maddison Ackiss found Chase Miller who beat her defender and curled the ball into the top corner. Unfortunately we had a minute lapse where we gave up two goals and a 3-1 deficit was too much for us to overcome.”
Gustavus outshot Concordia 12-5 in the second half and 14-12 in the game. The Gusties also held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks. Ashley Becker (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) made four saves in net for the Gusties.
“We brought the game within one, hit a cross bar, forced their keeper to come up with some big saves and certainly put them under pressure,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Several of our players stepped up big time in this game but we still need more to reach that next level.”
Gustavus closes out the regular season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Hamline.