ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears soccer team (0-3) kicks off NSIC play with their first home games of the season this weekend as they take on Minnesota Duluth, Friday night at 7 pm and then face St. Cloud State on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.
 
The Golden Bears are coming off a 3-1 loss at Viterbo (Wis.) this past weekend in their final non-conference game of the season. CSP got off to a slow start and Viterbo took advantage as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead only two minutes and 18 seconds into the game. The V-Hawks would then add two more goals in the first half building a 3-0 halftime lead.

"We showed our inexperience in the first 25 minutes of the game, we gave them multiple opportunities early on. Viterbo is a good team and they took advantages of those opportunities," head coach Steve Bellis said following the loss.
 
Coming out in the second half, Concordia picked up the intensity on the offensive side of the field outshooting the V-Hawks 5-1. Sophomore forward Jordan Rowan-Stafford would score the Golden Bears lone goal with three seconds remaining in the game.

Rowan-Stafford led the way with three shots for Concordia, all of which came in the second half. Freshman defender Hannah Pavek and senior forward Chelsie Lindsay also added two shots a piece on the afternoon.
 
Friday's match will provide a bit of a different challenge as the Golden Bears play their first home game of the season at Sea Foam Stadium against the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth in the NSIC season opener. The Golden Bears are 1-17-1 all-time against Minnesota Duluth getting their first win against the Bulldogs last season.

"Duluth is physical, they are always well-organized and a well-coached team. They have started off the season well, getting a good win against UW-Parkside; they are a good team and it is going to be a battle for us on Friday." Bellis said about playing Duluth.

In the matchup last year against Minnesota Duluth, it was a scoreless game and looked to be heading to overtime, but in the 87th minute, then senior Alahna Anderson found the back of the net to give CSP a crucial 1-0 win over UMD.

Following the home opener on Friday night under the lights, the Golden Bears have one day off before they take on St. Cloud State at 1 pm on Sunday afternoon, also at home. CSP is 2-10-3 all-time against St. Cloud State having not won against the Huskies since 2008 by a score of 3-0.

"We played St. Cloud State in the spring and it was a great battle. They are well coached and will certainly battle hard. We will focus on getting our back line much more compact and taking the chances we create this week." Bellis said about St. Cloud State.

In last season's game against St. Cloud State, the rain wreaked havoc on play in the first half as neither team was able to gain much traction offensively. Early in the second half, Jessica Bianchi briefly gave the Golden Bears a lead with her team-leading sixth goal of the season before Naomi Kolhoff tied it up just five minutes later to wrap up the scoring. 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. The intensity remained until the final whistle but neither team was able to claim three points as it ended in a 1-1 draw.