ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears soccer team (2-4-3, 2-1-3) continues NSIC this weekend as they return home to host Augustana at 7 pm on Friday night at Sea Foam Stadium before traveling to Wayne State on Sunday for a 1 pm start time.
 
The Golden Bears are coming off a 1-0-1 weekend road trip where they tied Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night and then returned to action on Sunday at Bemidji State where they knocked off the Beavers in a very impressive 1-0 win.

"It was a good road trip, we defended well at Crookston and we limited their opportunities. We had chances to score multiple games, it was a tough game but we will take the point. Bemidji we knew would be a completely different game. They play a similar style to us and we did a good job tactically eliminating their best players and it paid off. It was a good victory, good for moral, good for the kids, they battled really hard." Head coach Steve Bellis said about the previous two games.

Saturday at Minnesota Crookston, the Golden Bears put pressure on the Golden Eagles during the game but were unable to beat UMC keeper Lexie Gauger who made five saves and while picking up her third shutout on the season. CSP out-shot UMC 11-8 overall and 5-2 on shots on goal and maintained ball control on their attacking end for much of the game.

Senior forward Chelsie Lindsay and sophomore forward Jordan Rowan-Stafford led the Golden Bears with four shots a piece on the afternoon. Three of Lindsay's four shots were on goal and only one of Rowan-Stafford's shots was on goal.

On Sunday at Bemidji State, CSP knocked off a very good Beaver squad by a score of 1-0. Coming into Sunday's matchup, Bemidji State was receiving votes for the Division II national rankings and won four of their last five games, but that did not faze Concordia. Both teams came out on the offensive attack as they combined for 21 shots (11 CSP, 10 BSU) attempted in the first half of play. Jordan Rowan-Stafford would score the game winning goal in the 17th minute off assists from Mary Kaiser and Chelsie Lindsay.
 
In the second half, the Concordia defense would face a great deal of pressure as the Beavers would outshoot CSP 13-0 in the final 45 minutes of play. Leading the defensive attack was sophomore goalkeeper Emily Nelson who made a career-high 11 saves on the afternoon. Nelson would make some big saves in the second half, but no save was bigger than the save made with under a minute remaining in regulation. The Beavers would attempt a shot at point blank range but Nelson would again make the save, allowing the Golden Bears escape with the victory.

"The elevation of Emily's game, from 12 months ago, is incredible and a lot of it is her putting in hard work over the summer. In her mindset she brings with that positive attitude and she pushes the other goalkeepers really hard. Her performance against Bemidji was all about confidence, her voice was loud, her decision making was great, and she did everything right and deservedly won two awards for her performances." Bellis said of Nelson's play over the weekend.

Heading into Friday, Saturday's match with the Vikings of Augustana marks the 11th meeting between the two schools with the Golden Bears holding a 2-7-1 record in the 10 previous meetings. The Vikings won last year's meeting at Sioux Falls by a score of 3-1, making it three straight wins against CSP. The last time Concordia beat Augustana was in 2012 by a score of 2-1 at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Vikings are led by Samantha Tymkowicz, Emily Jacobson and Ellie Knowles. Tymkowicz currently leads the team with four goals, while Jacobson leads the team with nine points (2g, 5a) and Knowles currently ranks second on the team with three goals. In the net for AU is Taylor Machacek who has played every game for the Vikings while registering 56 saves, 1.07 goals against average and a .836 save percentage. Machacek has also recorded three shutouts on the year.

Augustana is coming off a pair of home wins over the weekend, first shutting out Minnesota Moorhead by a score of 4-0 and then defeating a very good Northern State squad by a close score of 2-1.
 
"Augustana will be tricky, they are similar to Bemidji in the way they set up and play. They have a good coach who will have his team prepared and ready to play. It should be a good game and great battle, they are team that always fights till the end." Bellis said about playing Augustana.
 
In last year's meeting the Golden Bears fell behind 2-0 in the first half and furiously fought to get back into the game, cutting the deficit in half, but were unable to pull even as the Vikings claimed a 3-1 win on their home field.
 
The trio of Emily Jacobson, Stephanie Stevens, and Samantha Tymkowicz did the scoring for Augustana as Jacobson also ended up with a match-best four shots on goal. Taylor Machacek got the win in net for the Vikings as she made six saves and allowed just the one goal in the winning effort. Kelli Heytens netted her first career goal for the Golden Bears in the loss.
 
Looking ahead to Sunday's game at Wayne State, CSP Concordia will look to improve on their 11-8-1 record against Wayne State on Sunday afternoon in the 21st meeting between the Golden Bears and the Wildcats. The Golden Bears have been extremely successful over the past 11 years against WSC with eight wins and a tie over a span of 12 meetings. However, the Wildcats have won the previous two meetings, each by one goal.

The Wildcats have nine different players that have scored a goal this season and 14 players have recorded at least one point. Carys Hund leads the team with four goals scored while Natalie Rech and Brooke Buzzell are currently tied for second in goals with three apiece. Kylie Comba has appeared in 10 games in goal for WSC while recording 49 saves, 0.86 goals against average and a .845 save percentage. Wayne State is currently coming off a 5-0 win at home against MSU Moorhead on Sunday.

"Wayne State is a different team this year, their coach has done an incredible job of recruiting and you can see that in their results. They scored five goals this past weekend which is not an easy thing to do at the collegiate level. The game is on grass so that will be a challenge but it should another good game like it was last year when we faced them." Bellis said about Wayne State.

Concordia dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Wayne State in last year's meeting. Valerie Hernandez's goal for the Wildcats in the 63rd minute proved to be the game's only goal. The Golden Bears out-shot their opponent but weren't able to turn it into goals as their 11 shots compared to just eight for WSC weren't enough. The Golden Bears finished with four shots on goal while Wayne State was more efficient with their shots with five on goal.

Jessica Bianchi was active on the offensive end with three shots, including two on goal, to lead the way. Chelsie Lindsay also registered two shots, with one on goal as well.

Live stats and video for both games will be available at the links above.