ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (6-8-1, 5-6-1 NSIC) played to a hard fought 1-1 draw against St. Cloud State (7-4-3, 6-3-3 NSIC) on a rainy Friday night at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
After conditions cleared up a bit after the first half, play really exploded on both ends for the pitch as the Golden Bears and Huskies provided some entertaining action as both teams grabbed an important point in the standings late in the year.
 
Jessica Bianchi briefly gave the Golden Bears a lead with her team-leading sixth goal of the season early in the second half before Naomi Kolhoff tied it up just five minutes later to wrap up the scoring.
 
Bianchi easily paced all players with six shots, two on goal, as she was all over the field for CSP. Alahna Anderson, McKenzie Buck and Chelsie Lindsay also caused trouble for the Huskies in the attacking third as they all put up at least two shots in the game.
 
Both keepers were relatively busy after the half as Emma Gartner made six saves for the Golden Bears while Brittany Plombon also stopped six shots for SCSU.
 
The rain wreaked havoc on play in the first half as neither team was able to gain much traction offensively. Extended possession was hard to come by as much of the half. Concordia had the best stretch of action just over 17 minutes in as they fired three shots in a row but had nothing to show for it. In the 26^th minute, Chelsie Lindsay put the first shot on net and near the end of the half in the 45^th minute Alahna Anderson added another shot on goal to give the Golden Bears the only two on net in the half. Overall, Concordia out-shot the Huskies 7-3 in the half.
 
With the rain slowing down after the break, play really picked up as scoring chances came far more frequently. After pressuring early in the half, Concordia was finally rewarded with a PK drawn by McKenzie Buck in the 54^th minute. Jessica Bianchi stepped up to the spot and calmly buried the PK in the bottom right corner of the net. Bianchi extended her team lead with her sixth goal of the season.
 
The lead didn't last too long for the Golden Bears as Naomi Kolhoff took a pass from Michelle Cornell just outside the box and ripped a right foot shot into the upper left corner to tie it at 1-1. Kolhoff's goal was her fifth of the year.
 
The action continued to be up and down from there as both team had golden opportunities to take the lead and close it out in regulation. St. Cloud State nearly took the lead in the 70^th minute as Faith Bila fired a shot in the direction of the net but it deflected off the crossbar and out of danger. Concordia turned it back in their favor following the chance and nearly took the lead for themselves on several occasions but couldn't find the back of the net. SCSU gave the Golden Bears a final scare with just over a minute to play as Sarah Benhart looped a shot from about 25 yards away from goal and put it over Gartner's head but Gartner reached up and tipped it up off the crossbar to keep it out of the net with an impressive save. The Huskies finished with nine shots compared to five for the Golden Bears in the half.
 
The first overtime was pretty evenly played as the two defenses limited any major chances to keep the game scoreless.
 
Things really heated up in the second overtime as both teams created some real opportunities to put it away. McKenzie Buck broke free behind the defense midway through the half but was unable to gain full control before Brittany Plombon reached it and turned it away. Bianchi nearly netted her second of the game with 2:30 to play but was also turned away by Plombon. The intensity remained until the final whistle but neither team was able to claim three points as it ended it a 1-1 draw.
 
Concordia will return to action at Sea Foam Stadium on Sunday as they host Minnesota Duluth in another crucial NSIC match. The kick-off is set for 1 p.m.