ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (7-8-1, 6-6-1 NSIC) heads into the final weekend of the regular season trying to wrap up a spot in the NSIC Tournament as they travel to Upper Iowa (7-7-2, 6-6-1 NSIC) on Friday and host Winona State (11-3-2, 8-3-2 NSIC) on Sunday for Senior Day.
 
Sunday's match marks Senior Day for the Golden Bears as the team will honor their ten seniors. Concordia will commemorate the day with a short, on-field presentation around before the game at around 12:30 p.m. for each of the individuals. This year's senior class includes Emma Gartner, Jessica Bianchi, Anna Augustine, McKenzie Buck, Kaitlyn Halvorson, Rachel Gratz, Meg Poulson, Sam Marthaler, Taryn MacMillan and Alahna Anderson.
 
The Golden Bears head into the crucial final weekend in a tie for eighth place with Friday's opponent, Upper Iowa. The stage is set for a match that could potentially decide who's in and who's out of the conference tournament.
 
The battle for the final few spots in the field extends beyond just these two squads as seven teams from fifth through 11^th place in the standings are separated by only six points. St. Cloud State sits just two points ahead in seventh while Bemidji State and Southwest Minnesota State are three points ahead in a tie for fifth. Also in the mix is Minnesota Crookston, one point behind CSP in 10^th place, and Northern State, three points behind in 11^th place. With so much left up in the air, the Golden Bears have put themselves in a position in which they control their own destiny and can guarantee a spot with two wins this weekend.
 
Concordia enters the weekend coming off a clutch weekend in which they grabbed four points to put them right in the mix.
 
On Friday, the Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead early in the second half against SCSU on a penalty kick from Jessica Bianchi before the Huskies tied it five minutes later to push the score to a final mark at 1-1 in a tie. Bianchi's goal pushed her to a team-leading six on the season.
 
Last Sunday's match also looked headed for a draw between Concordia and Minnesota Duluth, but Alahna Anderson was on the receiving end of a beautiful string of passes from Chelsie Lindsay and McKenzie Buck and smashed it off the post and in to give the Golden Bears a decisive 1-0 lead in the 87^th minute.
 
Emma Gartner continued her tremendous play this season as she allowed just one goal on 13 shots for the weekend. The senior claimed her fourth shutout of the year and pushed her mark to 11 of the last 13 games allowing one goal or fewer. She ranks seventh in the NSIC in saves and eighth in goals against average and save percentage on the season.
 
Concordia will look to break their recent trend against the Peacocks on Friday as they enter the match on a four-match losing streak against UIU. Overall, CSP holds a record of 5-7 in the all-time series against Upper Iowa and 1-3 in four trips to Fayette.
 
Last year, The Peacocks exploded for four goals in the final 48 minutes of the game as they pulled away from Concordia on a windy afternoon. The Golden Bears cut the UIU lead in half at 2-1 and appeared poised to make a game of it but Upper Iowa chipped in two insurance goals late to put it away. McKenzie Buck was a strong threat for the Golden Bears as she scored the team's only goal on two shots on goal while she created several other chances throughout the game.
 
On Sunday, the Golden Bears will look to build off of last season's win over the Warriors as Concordia has gone 2-22-1 all-time against Winona State.
 
Last season, Chelsie Lindsay scored the game-winner in the 97th minute to give the Golden Bears their first ever win in Winona in a 3-2 win. After failing to produce a win in ten matches at WSU and trailing on two different occasions, the Golden Bears showed a lot of resilience as they battled back to claim the victory. Chelsie Lindsay picked an opportune time to score her first career goal for Concordia as she beat the keeper in the first minute to end the streak in Winona and lift the Golden Bears past the Warriors. She also added an assist on Landry's goal that tied the game at one to finish with three points on the night.
 
Follow along to this weekend's action at the links above.