Alex Blalock struck first with what proved to be the game-winner in the 43rd minute. Concordia had been attacking throughout the half before the goal, but like against College of Idaho on Saturday, the Cavs could not find the one goal they needed. After another opportunity bounced away to an opposing defender, freshman Jasmine Ayala stole the ball right back, then fed it up the right side to Blalock. Not hesitating, Blalock shot the ball from 15 yards across the ground to the opposite post. This time, the ball found the net and Concordia went into halftime up 1-0.

“I thought (Alex) Blalock’s goal was at a crucial moment for us,” said CU Head Coach Grant Landy. “We were struggling to finish up until that point. Our play in the second was much better than the first. We were lackluster the first 15 minutes and Eastern came out with a lot of energy.”

Coming out of halftime, the youth movement continued as several more underclassmen subbed into the game. Playing aggressively, the youngsters took advantage of the chance to show themselves and put in another goal in the 58th minute. However, while sophomore Sydney Tucker scored, upperclassmen Jackie Hendrickson and Alex Thomas fed her the ball after Thomas flicked a long pass up to Hendrickson, who then floated a ball forward halfway between Tucker and Eastern Oregon goalkeeper Chantal Schefers. Only a few steps ahead, Tucker reached the ball first and floated it just enough for it to sail over Shefers’ head and into the right side of the goal.

Ten minutes later in the 68th minute, sophomore stalwart Hannah Scott finished the Concordia scoring for the day with a shot from 10 yards. CU’s Adrienne Lommasson started the play with a pass in from the right side to Tucker who then immediately fed Scott in the middle of the box. From there, Scott sent it at EOU’s Shefers, who got a hand on it, but couldn’t corral it and the ball bounced in for the 3-0 CU lead.

The Cavs offense rode that lead to the end and finished with advantages in shots (23-to-3), shots on goal (8-to-2) and corners (10-to-0).

 However, despite the Cavalier offense controlling the ball through much of the match, Eastern Oregon nearly struck first. In the 20th minute, a long ball played up found EOU’s Rachael Collins on the right corner of the box. Collins controlled the ball from there and sent a hard shot on goal heading to the far post that CU’s Tori Talbutt had to save. The Concordia defense clamped down after that, though, only allowing one more shot throughout the rest of the match. Several players contributed to the effort, too, as 21 Cavaliers saw action Monday.

“We played a lot of players on the backline which will help us moving forwards as you never know who will have to step in,” Landy said. “I thought they did a good job for us in preserving the shutout.”

In goal, CU’s Robyn Neimann joined Talbutt, who had two saves, in holding EOU scoreless. Behind those two, Concordia recorded its seventh shutout of the season. For EOU, Chantal Schefers started the match in goal, saving five shots while allowing three, before Kailey Moss finished it.

The win improves the Cavs record to 9-3-1 overall and 4-0-0 in the CCC. EOU, meanwhile, drops to 2-7-0 overall and 0-3-0 in the CCC. They’ll next face Northwest University on Saturday, Oct. 15, the same day Concordia returns to action at home against Corban University.

“Our matchups with Corban have always been competitive and I expect them to play hard,” Landy said. “We will need to be sharp early as they have some dangerous players that can hurt us.”

The match will begin at 6 p.m. out at Delta Park.