| The Concordian
- September 22, 2000
| 2000
Cobber Football |
Football loses conference opener at St. Thomas
If the Concordia football team was looking to make things hard on itself, its definitely done a good job. After losing their season opener to Moorhead State University-Moorhead, the Cobbers opened up the conference season last Saturday with a loss to St. Thomas, who used the big play to defeat Concordia 38-22. "They came out and made a few big plays that hurt us," said senior quarterback Jeff Hertel. "They exposed a few things on us defensively and capitalized on it, which was a backbreaker." The person making those big plays for the Tommies was sophomore running back Jake Barkley. He torched the Cobbers with touchdown runs of 83, 68 and 75 yards. For the game, Barkley finished with 272 yards rushing on just 15 carries. With the Tommies leading 3-0 late in the second quarter, Barkley supplied
his first big play of the day. He took the handoff, ran right towards
the sideline, and then cut through the Cobber defense and down the sideline
83 yards to give St. Thomas a 9-0 lead. The Tommies led 16-0 at halftime,
and quickly stretched that lead to 23-0 after another big play from Barkley.
This time, Barkley took the
"I think we were flat in the first half and that put us in a hole whichwas hard to come back from," Hertel said. Although the Cobbers are 0-2, head coach Jim
Christopherson is still optimistic about the season.
The next action for the Cobbers is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 23, as they take on Macalester. This game is on family weekend, which will give the Cobbs a chance to get things going in front of family and friends. "I hope we come out smokin' against the Scots," exclaimed Christopherson.
| 2000
Cobber Men's Soccer |
| 2000
Cobber Women's Soccer |
Soccer teams place first and third:
The Concordia women's and men's soccer squads hosted and competed in two tournaments this past weekend, with the women capturing first place at the Concordia Invitational and the men taking third out of four teams at the Cobber Classic III. For the women, both offense and defense were highlighted in two blowout victories. In Concordia's first win, 8-0 over Viterbo
University on Saturday afternoon, sophomore Kendra
Lee tied her own school record with 11 points on four goals and three
assists, and freshman Haley
Groce added two goals and three assists to lead the Cobbers. In the
second game, on Sunday, the offensive barrage continued with the Cobbers
defeating St. Scholastica 5-0. Senior
Jordi
Kortan started the scoring for Concordia with two goals in the first
half, and Lee added two more goals to her
Head coach Jim Cella was enthused by his team's performance, and stressed the rarity of having multiple scorers. "Finding good scorers, especially in Division III, is like finding watering holes in the desert," quipped Cella. "If you find one, you're lucky. We've already got two in Kendra and Jordi, and it looks as if we've added another in Haley Groce." Not to be outdone by her offensive cohorts, sophomore goalkeeper Kathy Braun held Cobber opponents scoreless for the Invitational. Her two saves against Viterbo and six more against St. Scholastica were enough to record her third and fourth shutouts on the young season. "Kathy has improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of last season," said Cella. "[Braun's improvement along with] a key team defensive concept has led to strong defensive showings so far this season." The women are 5-1-0 on the season. The men had tougher going, losing a hard-fought battle on Saturday 3-0 to eventual Classic Champion Nebraska-Wesleyan, and winning a 3-2, double overtime nail-biter over St.Scholastica on Sunday. Concordia's first game remained scoreless until the game's 40th minute,
when Wesleyan's Brad Schweer deflected a shot into the Cobber net. Concordia
hung tough until what Cella described as the only clean-goal of the game,
again by Schweer, in the 65th minute. Able to muster little
"The game against Nebraska-Wesleyan was like a good boxing match," commented Cella. "We took our punches, and they took their punches. Their jabs just landed a few more times than ours." But the Cobber's recovered from their Saturday scoring woes against
St. Scholastica on Sunday afternoon. St. Scholastica grabbed two first
half leads, but Concordia answered both times to tie the score and send
the game into overtime. Junior Kevin Roos
kicked the Cobber's first score in
The first period of overtime was scoreless. But just one minute into the second overtime, freshman Jason VanValkenburg kicked the game winner, hooking a shot into the net with the inside of his foot. "The play was quick," said VanValkenburg. "The ball went out of bounds, we threw it in, and I hit it off the bounce towards the far post. It wasn't anything we really practice . . . it just happened." Cella called it a great play, and believes it to be only one of many indications of his young team's potential. "We've shown signs of brilliance," said Cella. "We've played well in spurts, but we're a team of field rats. If the tumblers click and we find the solution to the lock . . . it will be scary to find out how good we are." The men's record now stands at 3-2-1. The Cobber men open the MIAC portion of their schedule at home tomorrow
against Gustavus. The men play at 11 a.m. and the women follow with their
conference opener at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Gustavus. On Tuesday and Wednesday
the men and women continue conference play against St.
| 2000
Cobber Volleyball |
Volleyball feels ‘blast of reality’
The Concordia volleyballers opened the MIAC with a win over Augsburg on Wednesday, but the challenges of the weekend’s St. Ben’s Invitational proved that wins don’t always come so easily. The Cobbers flourished against Augsburg, winning their match in four games. Augsburg took an early lead over the Cobbers, winning the first game 15-10. But Concordia focused its efforts to clinch the next three games 15-9, 15-12, and 15-4. Senior Sam Scariano led all players with 18 kills for the match. Senior Stacy Davis and Sophomore Katrina Wilberts each added 13 kills for the Cobbers. "Augsburg was a good confidence builder for us," Scariano said. "It was good to win our first conference game." Four tough matches at the St. Ben’s Invite, however, tested the Cobbers endurance. The Cobbers started their Friday match against Simpson (IA) with a 15-7 win. But Simpson bounced back, winning the next two matches 16-14 and 15-4. Though Concordia managed a 16-14 win in the fourth game, Simpson claimed the final game 15-11 to take the match. The Cobbers next test came against Nebraska-Wesleyan. Concordia won the first game of the match 16-14, but succumbed to Wesleyan in the next three games 13-15, 7-15, and 7-15. "The weekend was a blast of reality for us," Scariano said. "We came off a winning streak and this told us what we needed to work on." Saturday, Concordia fared better, splitting the day's matches. The Cobbers
started the day with a decisive 3-0 victory over UW-Steven's
Point, winning by scores of 15-6, 15-8, and 15-9.
"We are really working on getting to every ball," said Scariano, who was named to the All- Tournament Team. "We want to make the other team make the mistakes." The weekend action brought Concordia's record to 6-4 overall. The Cobbers host their own tournament this weekend. Play starts
at 4 PM tonight, with the Cobbers facing MIAC foe St. Kate's.
| 2000
Cobber Men's Cross Country |
There is no article this week.
| 2000
Cobber Women's Cross Country |
There is no article this week. | 2000
Cobber Women's Golf |
There is no article this week.
| 2000
Cobber Men's Golf |
There is no article this week.
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