Aurora edges CUW women's soccer in first place battle

Aurora, Ill.-  Aurora women's soccer program is close to unbeatable.  The Spartans have lost just three NAC matches in the last six seasons, but they got a battle royal from CUW before posting a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon.

The Nationally-ranked Spartans had the better of first half stats, but the score remained 0-0 at the break.

Finally in the 70th minute Aurora forward Nicci Bermudes notched her eighth goal of the season, forcing the defensive-minded Falcons (who had not allowed a goal in conference play all season) into attack mode. 

Ten minutes later Aurora was awarded a penalty kick and Nicole Wolfe's successful conversion made it 2-0.

Undaunted the Falcons answered that gift with a score by freshman Brittany Klumpp (Rubicon, Wis.) to cut the deficit in half.

With Ryan Middendorf's team putting extra players forward looking for a tying goal, Aurora's Kaitlyn Crohan got behind the Falcon defense for the score that put the game away.

The loss was the first in conference play for Concordia (6-1-0) while Aurora stands alone atop the NAC at 7-0-0. 

CUW travels to Edgewood Wednesday for an important 7:00pm match.  The Eagles are currently 5-1-0, just behind the Falcons, in the NAC standings.