Golden Goal Sends Concordia to Orange Beach
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. San Marcos
PORTLAND, Ore.—With just over eight minutes left in the second overtime, Concordia's Ashley Ames connected on a golden goal to lead the No. 8-seeded Cavalier women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Cal State San Marcos in the NAIA Opening Round on Saturday.
With the win, Concordia advances to the final site of the NAIA national tournament for the 11th straight season as the Cavs will travel to Orange Beach, Ala. where they will face unseeded Cumberland (Tenn.) in the second round after Cumberland upset No. 9-seeded Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 1-0 on Saturday.
The Cavaliers' match against Cumberland will kickoff at 4 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Nov. 26. A watch party for that match will be held on campus, though further details on the party will not be released until next week on
gocugo.com.
“It's quite an accomplishment to make it to the final site once again,” said CU head coach Grant Landy. “We have been fortunate to make it this far for over a decade and it's a testament to a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice by these girls. I'm proud of the team tonight in how they fought through the adversity and figured out how to win the game.”
The adversity came in the form of a physical Cal State San Marcos team, which pestered Concordia throughout the match. Concordia held a dominant 18-2 shot advantage in the match—including a 14-0 advantage in shots after the first half—but still didn't put the Cougars away until Ames' goal in the 102nd minute of the match.
“We knew it was going to be a hard physical game,” said Landy. “I don't think we adapted to their style of play early in the first half, but we were much more composed in the second half and that turned the tide in the game.”
Ames' goal also let the Cavs avoid a nerve-wracking set of penalty kicks, which would have decided which team advanced to the second round if the match remained scoreless after two overtimes. The Cavs would have been especially disappointed to see the match go to penalty kicks too since they had been playing with a player advantage ever since the Cougars' Dani Porter received her second yellow card and was sent off in the 86th minute.
Fortunately for the Cavs, Ames' shot found the net 1:45 into the second overtime period, giving the Cavaliers the hard-fought win. Ames got the ball on the play after a long ball played into the middle of the box bounced around several players and fell to her 12 yards out. Once with the ball at her feet, Ames calmly fired a quick shot past the Cougars' goalkeeper for the score.
The score was the first game-winning goal of Ames' Concordia career, a first that could not have come at a better time for the Cavaliers.
Ames' goal was also the Cavaliers' fourth golden goal of the season as the team has gone 4-1-2 in seven overtime matches this season.
“The fact that we've won or tied six of the seven overtime matches this season shows me that when we get to the final site we'll be able to battle,” said Landy. “That's a sign of a team that can do something special.”
Meanwhile, the Cavalier defense posted its 12th shutout of the season, while goalkeeper Tori Talbutt recorded her seventh individual shutout.
Concordia's defense never gave the Cougars their own chance at a golden goal either as the Cavs did not allow the Cougars a shot over the final 67:43 of the match.
“Our defense has been great all year. We have only given up about eight goals in 20 matches while playing against high-profile teams,” said Landy. “We have an experienced group that was well organized tonight. They went in on hard tackles and Tori distributed the ball very well.”
The Cavaliers will need their defense in their second round match as Cumberland leads the nation with 90 total goals scored this season. A video stream of all national tournament matches will be available through the NAIA and can be accessed
here.