The series between the Muskies and Cougars has largely belonged of late to Concordia, though Lakeland made a small dent in that last year. The teams played to a 1-1 tie just over a year ago on Sept. 21, 2024 at John Taylor Memorial Field, as Mia Hirayama scored for CUC in the 52nd minute but Malaya Sperber tied it with a goal just over three minutes later. The Cougars have still won 11 of the teams' last 13 meetings, including a 4-0 victory at home two years ago. The Muskies' last win over CUC came Sept. 29, 2021, a 1-0 victory in a game played at night in a thick fog, with Marlen Reyes scoring the game's lone goal in the 55th minute. The early years of the series were dominated by Lakeland, which won the first five meetings in this series that started in 2001.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Marian 6-0 Wednesday
The Muskies dropped their third straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match, all coming on the road in a brutal opening schedule of conference games. Marian scored twice in the first half, including its first goal in the 21st minute, and then added four goals in the second half, including three in a 10-minute span late. Ingrid Steinbock made 11 saves in the first half and Addi Reimer turned away seven shots in the second half. Lakeland is playing for the first time this season at home in conference play, and also is home for the first time in 20 days. The Muskies' schedule will even out some the rest of the season, with seven of the final 10 games at home.

Concordia last time out: Lost to Illinois Tech 1-0 Wednesday
The Cougars gave one of the NACC's top teams a tough time earlier this week, hanging in before falling by a goal. IIT posted a 30-3 advantage in shot attempts, including 18-0 in the second half, but the game was scoreless until the Scarlet Hawks scored the match's lone goal in the 61st minute. Brooke Sheriff made eight saves for Concordia, which also played MSOE close in a 2-0 loss on Sunday and has a 2-1 win over Rockford also in league play so far.