The women’s soccer team unleashed an offensive barrage against the Concordia Cobbers Wednesday afternoon, winning 5-3. The Scots scored twice in the first five minutes to set the tone for the game.

Macalester and Concordia entered the game as the only two undefeated teams in MIAC play. The Cobbers have started out well this year and shattered team records last year—a year that included their first victory over Macalester, which the Concordia web site called “Biggest Win In School History.”

Entering Wednesday’s game, the Scots had not forgotten that loss to Concordia and were determined to exact revenge. “They beat us last year,” Annie Borton ’07 said, “and we just wanted to make sure we came out strong—and the first 15 minutes, we dominated them.”

Mac was so dominant that the game looked over after only five minutes of play. Sarah Marsh ’05 scored at the 1:40 mark on a high chip shot that drifted over the Cobber goalie and into the net. Less than three minutes later, Katie Pastorius ’06 made a run to the net, drawing the goalie out of position before she crossed it to Jenny Singleton ’06 who slotted it home to make it 2-0.

Macalester kept pressing the attack, as Megan Leahey ’06 and Jessica Bullen ’05 controlled the midfield and Mac connected on many long balls down the sidelines. At 19 minutes, Pastorius passed Borton the ball, who proceeded to dribble through two Cobber defenders and poke the ball under the diving keeper and into the net.

At this point, Concordia began to press forward, looking to get itself on the board. One shot hit the post and another glanced off the bar as Mac goalie Louisa Bigelow ’06 stopped it. Macalester then applied a quick counter attack, getting the ball to Marsh on the right side who sent a hard shot into the upper, far corner of the net, making it 4-0 Macalester.

With eight minutes to go in the first half, the Scots let the Cobbers back in the game. Another Cobber shot bounced off the left post, but the Scots’ opponents were in place to put the rebound in and give themselves some hope. Concordia kept pushing forward on the attack and was rewarded with a goal with 25 seconds to go, ensuring it had the momentum entering the locker rooms.

Just as quickly as Concordia got back into the game though, they were put back out of it. Eight minutes into the second half, Pastorius ripped one from the top of the box off an assist from Borton and Alice Hacker ’05, giving the Scots a 5-2 lead. Concordia managed to grab another goal as Morgan Bain, the leading MIAC scorer, put one away to make it 5-3 with 26 minutes to play. The Cobbers needed to attack strong until the end, but it was the Scots who looked the more aggressive in the final minutes, sending a couple more shots off the posts while pressing into Concordia territory.

Pastorius (7 goals, 10 assists) and Borton (10 goals, 7 assists) have been playing extremely well together up top and each added a goal and two assists to their season totals. Marsh, however, was the tone setter for the Scots, scoring on the initial early shot and adding another later on.

For a game that both sides expected to be close, Wedsenday’s game not exactly expected. “It was a strange game,” Borton said, “But we had our moments where we played really well. If we can play like that more often, we’ll be in good shape.”