ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia University women's soccer team (0-1) will travel to take on #7 Minnesota State (2-0) in the NSIC opener on Thursday at 4 p.m. and will travel to Viterbo (6-1) on Sunday for a non-conference match.

The Golden Bears opened up their season last Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Rockhurst in a neutral site matchup in Fayette, Iowa. CU fought hard to dig their way out of a 2-0 hole at the half as they put three shots on net compared to two for the Hawks and attempted seven shots against four overall in the final 45 minutes, but were unable to captalize. Five Golden Bears made their debuts in navy and gold in the match.

Concordia will look to turn their luck around against the Mavericks on Thursday after dropping the first ten meetings between the two schools. CU nearly broke that streak last season as they fell 1-0 in a hard-fought battle. Emma Gartner was solid in net as she stopped eight of the nine shots fired on net. Jess Bianchi was active on the offensive end with three shots on goal to lead the Golden Bears.

CU has met Viterbo four times before this season with the last meeting coming in 2001. The Hawks claimed the first three meetings before the Golden Bears finally breaking through with a 3-0 in St. Paul in their last matchup.

Minnesota State started off their season strong with a pair of shutout wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State and Central Oklahoma. In the season opener against SWOSU, Emily Moris chipped in the game-winning goal late in a 1-0 win. The Mavericks picked up two goals from Korey Kronforst in their 3-0 win over Central Oklahoma. Goalkeeper Molly McGough and defender Breanna Steele were named NSIC Players of the Week with the strong defensive efforts.

Viterbo enters Sunday with seven games under their belt, going 6-1. Last week, the Hawks crammed four games into their schedule as they collected a record of 3-1. Viterbo, a Division-III school in La Crosse, Wis., has outscored their opponents 23-5 with five shutouts on the year. They are led by junior Molly Machometa, the school's all-time leading goal scorer, who already has 10 goals and two assists on the season.

Live video will be available for Thursday's game and live stats will be available for both contests in the links above.