ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (6-8, 5-6 NSIC) will look to get back in the win column late in the NSIC season as they host St. Cloud State (7-4-2, 6-3-2 NSIC) on Friday night and Minnesota Duluth (4-8-2, 3-6-2 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon.
With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Golden Bears find themselves right in the mix for a spot in the top-8 in the NSIC and a trip to the conference tournament. Concordia currently sits in ninth place with 15 points, just three points behind Bemidji State for eighth and four points behind Upper Iowa and Southwest Minnesota State for sixth. With three of their final four games against teams currently in the top-8, the Golden Bears will have an opportunity to take points from those teams and move up in the standings. CSP has previously made six trips to the NSIC Tournament, with the most recent trip coming in 2009.
The Golden Bears continued to play quality soccer this past weekend but were unable to get any points to show for it as they took a 3-1 loss at then-#25 Augustana on Saturday before falling 1-0 to Wayne State on Sunday. Concordia out-shot their opponents in both games as they edged the Vikings 16-12 and the Wildcats 11-8 in the two games.
Kelli Heytens provided a highlight for the Golden Bears on the weekend as she netted her first career goal in Saturday's match at Augie.
Friday's match marks Concordia's 15
th meeting with St. Cloud State as they meet for the eighth time in St. Paul. The Golden Bears have gone 2-10-2 in the previous 14 meetings with the Huskies, but have had a bit more success on their home field with a record of 2-4-1 in the previous seven meetings in St. Paul.
Last season's meeting between the two schools in St. Cloud ended in a scoreless draw as both defenses were up to the task. The two teams created nearly an identical number of chances as both teams put six shots on net with SCSU picking up the slight edge with 17 shots compared to 16 for CU overall.
Emma Gartner made six saves in the shutout for the Golden Bears while the Concordia defense was a bright spot with
Rachel Gratz leading the way in a strong group effort in the shutout.
Sarah Pieper was a catalyst up front with a team-high five shots (one on net) and
Colette Piche played a solid game with a shot on goal in her first extended minutes of her career.
The Golden Bears head into Sunday looking for their first ever win against the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth as CSP holds a record of 0-17-1 in the first 18 meetings. Concordia pushed UMD to double overtime in the last meeting in St. Paul before the Bulldogs closed it out with a 2-1 win.
Last year, Concordia was sunk by a late goal in the 88th minute as they lost to Minnesota Duluth 2-1 in Duluth. The shot total ended up 12-6 in favor of UMD as they also held a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal, but it was far closer than that total, especially in the second half. After heading into the half down 1-0, Concordia bounced back with a strong effort in the second half and were rewarded with a
Sam McBain goal in the 66th minute to tie it up.
Taryn MacMillan and
Rachel Gratz both played strong games for the Golden Bears as MacMillan played a solid two-way game to make an impact on both ends while Gratz anchored the defense.
If you are unable to make it out to Sea Foam Stadium, watch live or follow live stats at the links above.
