Concordia-st. Paul couldn't overcome a pair of costly mistakes as #21 winona state capitalized to defeat the golden bears 24-17 on saturday evening at griffin stadium. The home nsic loss to wsu snapped a 15-game home conference winning streak dating back to oct. 27, 2001 when wsu defeated cu 35-17.

the bears and warriors played a scoreless first quarter until wsu finally converted a field goal attempt midway through the second quarter to break the tie.

with 6:19 remaining in the second quarter and cu trailing 3-0, senior quarterback kole goodchild was intercepted by wsu's john tackmann at the cu 43 yard line. Just three plays later, wsu qb drew aber connected with receiver scott peters from 32 yards out to take a 10-0 lead with 4:35 to play until halftime.

concordia responded on the ensuing possession by marching 51 yards in 12 plays capped off by a 35 yard field goal by senior brody johnson as time expired to pull the bears within a touchdown at the break. The (left) key play in the drive was when goodchild connected with junior receiver antwon williams for a 19 yard pass on 4th and 16 from the wsu 39, setting up the johnson field goal. Goodchild was 6-9 on the drive and had a 14 yard run.

the bears outrushed the warriors 54-23 in the first half and held a 10-7 advantage in first downs.

concordia's opening drive of the second half stalled at their own 33, forcing a punt. B.johnson, who also punts for cu, had the snap sail over his head and he was tackled at his own five yard line, turning the ball over on downs to the warriors in the red zone.

the warriors capitalized once again, scoring on the first play afer an offisde penalty brought the ball down to the two. That's when aber hit peters for the second time in the back of the end zone on a fade route, putting wsu ahead 17-3 early in the third quarter.

later in the third quarter, cu received the spark they needed when sophomore christian even (left) returned a 47 yard punt 24 yards back to the cu 49 yard line.

goodchild and junior runningback eric clinton (right)led the bear offense down the field as clinton carried the ball on the first four plays including picking up a first down on a clutch fourth down conversion at the 41 yard line. Goodchild completed 3-3 for 38 yards to get the bears inside the five. He then finished off the drive with a pair of rushes, the second of which was a one yard quarterback sneak into the end zone to pull the bears to with a td, 17-10 with 5:39 in the third.

winona state wasn't done scoring as aber and peters hooked up for a third touchdown from 27 yards out. Despite aber throwing into triple coverage and the ball being batted around by multiple cu defenders, peters came up with the td catch with 8:14 to play in the game.

the bears responded as goodchild led the bears on a 14 play, 80 yard drive spanning 3:39 capped off by a goodchild to williams scoring strike from six yards out to pull the score back to 24-17. Goodchild was 6-9 for 68 yards and added rushes of eight, 14 and five yards on the drive. The biggest play of the drive was a 19 yard strike to sophomore tyrone ruffin (left) who was drilled as he hauled in the reception on 4th and 19 to keep the game alive.

but with 4:22 on the clock, the warriors were effectively able to run out the remainder of the clock to close out the game.

in the game, goodchild (right) completed 20-32 for 207 yards with a td and one int while rushing 16 times for a game-high 48 yards and another score.

he hooked up with ruffin six times for 72 yards and williams five times for 36 yards including the td pass. Goodchild completed passes to six different receivers in the game with junior jason simmons hauling in four passes for 48 yards and senior cecil elekwachi recording a pair of catches for 50 yards.

the bears did win the battle on the ground as they put up 55 rushing yards while holding the warriors to just 39 on 25 attempts. They finished with a 20-14 advantage in first downs and were 4-5 on fourth downs compared to wsu's 0-1.

the defense, which held the warriors under 300 yards of total offense, was led by senior defensive tackle eric power (left)who had seven tackles (six solo) and five tackles for a loss of 23 yards. Freshman strong safety rojeer wright (right) recorded a team-best 10 tackles while junior linebacker jordan frain had nine tackles, one for loss and a sack. Junior defensive end ben schumacher and senior defensive tackle brandon sullivan also recorded sacks for the golden bears.

concordia returns to action next saturday, oct. 7 when they host sw minnesota state at 6:00 for homecoming at griffin stadium.