FAYETTE, IOWA – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (5-8-4, 5-5-4 NSIC) kept their playoff hopes alive with a big 3-2 road win at Upper Iowa (8-8, 7-7 NSIC) on Friday afternoon.
 
"We had a brave second half performance to set up the win today. A fantastic display from our front line created multiple chances to score." Head coach Steve Bellis said following the win.
 
The Golden Bears had their season on the line Friday afternoon as they traveled Upper Iowa and a win against the Peacocks would keep their playoff chances alive. Jordan Rowan-Stafford would score her fourth goal of the season 15 minutes into the game giving CSP an early 1-0 lead in the first half.
 
UIU would not go away easily as they would even the match just 10 minutes later off a goal by Christiana Atteberry. Neither team would manage to score a goal the remainder of the first half leaving the teams deadlocked at one going into halftime.
 
Upper Iowa would hold an 11-7 shot margin over Concordia in the first half of play.
 
Coming out in the second half, it was pretty evenly matched for the first 20 minutes of the final half of play but in the 65th minute, Katri Gifford would fire a shot from the left side of the box, beating the Peacock's keeper for her third goal of the season and giving CSP a 2-1 lead.
 
With the lead and the momentum the Golden Bears would notch their third goal of the game as Gifford sent a beautiful cross into the middle of the box where Chelsie Lindsay would header into the net building the CSP lead to 3-1.
 
Upper Iowa would add a second goal in the 78th minute cutting the Concordia lead in half but UIU could not find the tying goal in the final 12 minutes allowing the Golden Bears to escape with a 3-2 win and keeping their playoff hopes alive heading into Sunday's regular season finale.
 
The Peacocks would end up outshooting CSP, 20-12 but the Golden Bears held a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal for the game.
 
Leading the way for the Golden Bears was Chelsie Lindsay who attempted a team-high three shots, Rowan-Stafford and Colette Piche each attempted two shots while five other players each attempted one shot on the afternoon.
 
Jordyn Ostrowski led the way for UIU attempting a game-high six shots (three on goal) while Maggie Olson attempted three shots and Brianne Fenton, Kelsey Hall and Christiana Atteberry each attempted a pair of shots for the Peacocks.
 
Gifford finished with four points in the win, tying her career-high. She also notched her first two career assists in the win.
 
Emily Nelson took the win in net for the Golden Bears, making it her fourth win of the season. She made four saves in the match now brining her total to 61 on the season.
 
The Golden Bears close out the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 30 as they play host to Winona State at 1 pm in a must win game to have a chance at a playoff spot. Sunday is also Senior Day as we will recognize the six seniors on this year's squad at halftime. Live video for the game can be viewed at cspbears.com/watch.