ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (0-3, 0-1 NSIC) dropped their NSIC opener to #4 Minnesota State (3-0, 1-0 NSIC) on Thursday night by a score of 3-0 at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
Emma Gartner was busy in net for the Golden Bears as she made eight saves on 11 shots on goal for the night, including several strong saves in what was a solid performance to keep the Golden Bears in the game. She, along with the CSP defense, kept the score at 1-0 and kept the team within striking distance until late.
 
Korey Kronforst paced the Mavericks attack as she collected three assists on goals from Jessica Bowe, Kiana Nickel and Maddy Burandt.
 
The Mavericks came out firing as they compiled 11 shots by the midway point in the first half and had the Golden Bears on the defensive. Minnesota State broke through in the 14^th minute as Jessica Bowe sent a cross to the far side of the net to Korey Kronforst, who headed a shot on goal. Gartner made a nice save to keep it out of the back of the net but in the ensuing scramble Bowe picked up the rebound and put it home to make it 1-0 in favor of MSU.
 
After seeing possession in their half for the early stages of the game, Concordia shifted the momentum more in their favor. Despite having just one shot on net in the half, the Golden Bears controlled possession for long stretches late in the first half and limited the opportunities for the Mavericks. MSU ended the half with 14 total shots but were unable to solve the CSP defense to add to their lead the rest of the half.
 
The Golden Bear defense continued to hold strong for the early parts of the second half until Minnesota State struck with their second goal in the 62^nd minute. Kiana Nickel took a cross from just over five yards out and headed it past Gartner to double the lead for MSU. Kronforst eventually set up her third goal of the game nine minutes later as Maddy Burandt picked up a rebound off Kronforst's shot off the crossbar and deposited it into the back of the net to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
The Golden Bears regained some possession down the stretch but were unable to put anything on the board as the Mavericks closed out the 3-0 win.
 
Alahna Anderson and Chelsie Lindsay each finished with a shot on goal for the Golden Bears.
 
Concordia will look to get into the win column this Sunday as they wrap up the non-conference slate at 4 p.m. against Division-III foe Viterbo.