Defend And Advance
Concordia used their trademark Tupperware defense to seal off the St. Ben's offense and come away with their first conference playoff win since 2015.
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (10/30/23)---Playing in their first postseason game in eight years, the Cobbers scored a goal in each half and blanked St. Benedict in the quarterfinals of the MIAC playoffs.
With the win, Concordia advances to the MIAC semifinals and will play at No.2 seed St. Catherine on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.
"I am extremely proud of the entire team," head coach Rebecca Quimby said. "To go on the road immediately follow our final game on Saturday and come away with a win says a lot about the make-up of these players."
The win brings Concordia's record to 8-5-4 on the season. The victory is also the first on the road for the Cobbers since they won the championship game at Carleton in 2010 and it is the first-ever road playoff win at CSB in program history.
Once again, it was the defense that carried the Cobbers to the win. The "Tupperware" defense sealed the Bennies' high-scoring offense up tight for the entire 90 minutes of play. St. Benedict entered the game ranked third in the MIAC in goals scored in conference play, but the CC defense kept them off the board when it mattered most.
Concordia limited the St. Ben's chances to outside the penalty area and then used their counterattack to try and create chances in their offensive third of the field.
The breakthrough goal came midway through the first half when the Cobbers played a combination of passes after a free kick from the midline and worked the ball to the top of the CSB penalty area. Clara Rooney knocked the ball to sophomore Hannah Mukhtar, who hit an absolute rocket into the top right corner of the net from 16 yards out from goal.
The strike was Mukhtar's second in the last three games, and both goals were game winners.
The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half, and then Concordia bunkered up the defense to protect the 1-goal lead.
St. Ben's would have the majority of the chances in the second half, but it was the Cobbers who posted the only score.
Concordia served a free kick into the CSB penalty area where a defender headed the ball towards the right edge of the area. First-year forward Emma Sheflo tracked the ball down but was shoved from behind, and CC was awarded its first penalty of the season.
Super senior Sophia Robinson calmly stepped up and converted the spot kick to add the insurance goal at the 84:37 mark.
The Cobbers would kill off the final 5:23 to come away with their first postseason win since 2015, but not before there was a last-minute skirmish. Junior Amber Weibye and one of the St. Ben's players got tangled up at midfield and fell to the ground. The referee stepped in and decided to give a red card to each player, meaning that the Cobbers will be without the services of Weibye in the semifinal game.
Concordia was outshot 24-11 in the game, with the shots on goal tally being 9-7 in the Bennies favor.
Sheflo had a team-high three shots, with two finding the target.
Senior goalie Bre Nelson stopped all nine shots she faced to record her fifth shutout of the season. Nelson is now 6-1-3 on the year.
UP NEXT: at St. Catherine in the MIAC semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.