Pride Fall 19-9 to Columbia College in Home Opener
CC's Joseph Reed leads the way with eight goals
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Pride struggled offensively from the start and fell 19-9 to the Columbia College Cougars in its home opener Tuesday at Burrows field.
The Pride (0-1, 0-1 KCAC) allowed three Cougar (2-4, 1-1) goals in the first quarter. CC's Joseph Reed scored the first of his three in the first 15 minutes at the 9:46 mark. His second came five minutes later (4:40), with his third finding the back of the net with 47 seconds remaining.
Derek Howard added a fourth CC goal with 14 minutes remaining in the second quarter, followed by two tallies from John Thomas (13:12 & 12:44), the latter of which came off an assist by Tyler Parrott. Senior attack Kurt Springli notched his first goal of the season and put the Pride on the board when he found the back of the net on an assist by fellow senior Connor Cole with 10:54 remaining in the quarter.
Columbia would be responsible for the next four goals (8:29, 6:41, 5:32, 5:31), jumping the Cougars out to a 10-1 lead. The Pride tacked on its second goal of the day after Springli scored his second off another assist from Cole with 1:41 remaining in the half. The Cougars struck one last time in the second half after Thomas scored his fourth goal of the quarter (1:09) to go up 11-2.
After two CC goals (12:58 & 12:01) to open up the third quarter, Clarke scored two-straight when Tucker La Belle (7:35) and Alec Kolander (5:23) picked up their first goals of the year, trimming the deficit to nine (13-4). Columbia answered back with four-straight goals to close out the quarter (4:44, 4:00, 3:58, 2:21).
After another goal by Reed put the Cougars up 18-4 with 11:53 remaining in regulation, Kolander (9:18), Springli (7:40), and Cole (7:02 & 6:23) scored the next four to put the Pride within 10 (18-8). Each team exchanged goals (CC – 3:57, CU – 1:18) over the final few minutes before time expired.
Six different Cougars scored, with Reed's eight leading the way. Thomas was second on the team with five, followed by Doren and Howard at two apiece. Springli and Cole led the Pride with three goals each, followed by Kolander with two. La Belle rounded out the Pride's goals with one.
Bryce Peltier played all 60 minutes in goal for the Cougars and picked up eight saves on 17 shot attempts, while Clarke's Kendrik Scherer collected 16 saves on 35 shots.
The Pride will continue its season-opening two-game homestand with a non-conference game against Missouri Baptist (1-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Spartans were a 17-2 winner Saturday against Missouri Valley College.