Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — On the one hand, after giving up 24 goals in its last five games, Saint Mary's University women's soccer coach Dan Blank knew his team had to tighten up its defensive play heading into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia.
On the other, after failing to score a goal in its last six games, Blank also knew that his team needed to find some offensive punch.
He got the one hand — but not the other.
The Cardinals held the Cobbers scoreless for 83 minutes, before Kendra Lee broke free to score the game's only goal at the 83:24 mark as Concordia held SMU without a goal for the sixth straight game, beating the Cardinals 1-0.
"This is a frustrating loss," admitted SMU coach Dan Blank. This team played their hearts out today and really deserved a better outcome than a 1-0 loss. This was a very evenly match game, a game we very easily could have — and maybe should have — won.
"We just couldn't get that one break."
The Cobbers had several opportunities to get on the board, but either SMU goalkeeper Dianna Kyllo (Kasson, Minn.) — or her best friends the post and crossbar — kept the game scoreless.
Lisa Gutsche had a pair of pointblank shots stopped by Kyllo in the first half, while Lee clanked shots off both the crossbar and the post early in the second half.
Lee finally got one of her nine shots past Kyllo, picking up a loose ball and racing in alone on Kyllo, beating her with a shot into the lower right corner. The Cardinals created their best scoring opportunity minutes later, but Katie Johnson's (Elk River, Minn.) shot from just off the left goal post was stopped by Cobber goalkeeper Kathy Braun.
"We had some very good chances. It's almost like we're snakebit right now — no matter what we do, no matter how good the opportunity is, we just can't seem to score a goal," said Blank, whose team has just one goal this season. "The most frustrating part of this game was, we played a great game — one of our best games of the season — and we don't have the win to show for it.
"This team has worked so hard all season, and they've made some incredible improvements. Unfortunately, we don't have anything to show for it."
