ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (6-6, 5-4 NSIC) put up an impressive defensive performance on Sunday afternoon but fell just short in a 1-0 loss to Minot State (10-1-1, 8-0-1 NSIC) on Sea Foam Stadium.
 
The Golden Bears continued to play at a high level as they matched the Beavers shot-for-shot on Sunday. Outside of a goal for Minot State off the foot of Ninfa Ramirez in the 10^th minute, it was even throughout the day with both teams showing class on both ends of the field.
 
Jessica Bianchi was all over the field as she tied for a game high with four shots, including one on goal, while McKenzie Buck and Chelsie Lindsay used their speed to put pressure on the Beaver defense.
 
Emma Gartner had a strong day in net as she made five saves, including several impressive stops, in the losing effort.
 
It wasn't just Gartner that shined defensively as the back line for the Golden Bears was solid all afternoon. The group featuring Rachel Gratz, Jade Weller, Kelli Heytens, Kaitlyn Halvorson and several others limited a strong Minot State offense and kept them from really getting going on the day.
 
The Golden Bears came out firing as they looked to take to an early lead, something CSP had been very successful in doing over their recent hot stretch. Concordia nearly got on the board in opening minute as some brilliant passing resulted in a strong shot off the foot of Mary Kaiser from about 15 yards out that struck the inside of the far left post and rolled down the goal line but it stayed out of the net as the it remained scoreless.
 
After the early flurry for the Golden Bears, the Beavers turned the momentum a bit more in their favor. Minot State broke through on their first real scoring chance of the day as Ninfa Ramirez took a pass from Chloe Melton right out front and buried it for her team-leading 10^th goal of the season.
 
The two defenses really shined for the rest of the half as the number of chances was limited for either team. Despite the Beavers outshooting CSP 10-7 in the half and 4-0 on shots on goal, play was pretty even between the two teams as possession was split for much of the half. Emma Gartner stood her ground on a few chances from Minot State as she made three saves in the half.
 
The defensive play continued in the second half as both teams did an excellent job of erasing any opportunities. There were just eight shots total in the half with each team registering four in the period. The Beavers pressured a bit early in the half before Concordia really took over and dominated the chances down the stretch. The Golden Bears played with a real sense of urgency late in the second half as they saw an opportunity to take points against one of the top programs in the league.
 
The Golden Bears put together some great opportunities right before the final horn as the hard work of their forwards resulted in a pair of late corner kicks. Concordia came close on several occasions but the Minot State defense stood up to the test as they held on to stay unbeaten in league play with a 1-0 win.
 
Concordia hits the road for a pair of key games next weekend as they travel to Augustana and Wayne State.