MO RN INGSID E C O L L E G E M ATC HDAY - O CT. 7 , 20 20
MUSTANG SOCCER
Morningside College returns to the pitch and resumes the 2020 Great Plains Athletic Conference season this evening. Head coach Tom Maxon’s Mustangs stand 0-0-1, forging a road tie with Presentation College in their opener Sept. 17. The visiting Bulldogs of Concordia University harbor a 3-2 overall and 3-1 loop record. Head coach Thomas Goines’ squad had reeled off three successive shutouts after a season-opening non-conference loss to Bellevue University until Dakota Wesleyan University side-stepped them 1-0 Oct. 3.
MUSTANG MARKS An 18-4 shots advantage at Presentation College’s Saints Field wasn’t quite enough to propel the Maroon to victory in their first match. The Maroon received offensive opportunities from nine individuals but none of them could get past a stand-on-your-head goalkeeping effort from PC netminder Kristina Nelson. Nelson repelled 11 Maroon on-frame tries to keep the scoreboard knotted over the full 110 minutes. Senior defender Paytn Harmon and freshmen midfielders Sina Feeser and Eva Geiben posted seven of those chances. Morningside’s defense equaled their host’s efforts. Senior goalkeeper Alex Homan produced her second career clean sheet, gaining one save … Mside was tabbed for an eighth-place finish on the conference coaches preseason listing, released in late August … A high-powered group of first-year offensive weapons will be newly-minted this fall. At the same time, the backline appears to be steadied with the presence of Harmon
and the netminder presence of junior Sarah Finn among others. “We could be able to shuffle (some people) around,” Maxon reflected. “Paytn is our top returning scorer but is a center/back. If we can keep her in back, it will be even better defensively in front of a pair of experienced goalkeepers. Offensively, we do have plenty of newcomers arriving that can make a difference, which is good because we don’t want to put too much on Paytn (as we did last season).”
bulldog BITS A trio featuring senior midfielder Jennika Chapman, junior midfielder Mikeila Martinez, and sophomore midfielder Lina Kirst has each registered two goals as part of 15 overall for CU through five matches. Chapman is also the leader in points (five), as she’s contributed one of the team’s 10 assists. Defensively, senior goalkeeper Lindsey Carley has been dominating. She sports a minute 0.40 goals-against average having surrendered two scores in 450 minutes. Carley also has 13 saves and three shutouts to her credit.
WEEKEND ROAD TRIP Morningside is scheduled to make a trip to Dordt University for a doubleheader with the men’s program Saturday, Oct. 10. Match times are 12 p.m. for the women and 2:15 for the men at DU’s Soccer Complex in Sioux Center.