ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears soccer team (1-4-2, 1-1-2) continues NSIC play with a pair of road games this weekend as they travel to Minnesota Crookston on Saturday for a 12 pm start time and then travel Bemidji State on Sunday for a 1 pm start time.
 
The Golden Bears got their first win of the season on the road against Southwest Minnesota State coming from behind for a 2-1 victory. Following their first win of the season, CSP returned home for a matchup against Sioux Falls and despite outshooting the Cougars by a wide margin, Concordia would not be able to find the back of the net, and Sioux Falls would escape with a 1-0 win.

"It was a bit of a roller coaster this past weekend. It is extremely pleasurable to get the first win of the year down at Southwest Minnesota State. It was a very chippy game, but it feels good to get that first win under our belt. As for Sioux Falls, they have improved dramatically, their coach is doing a great job there and they played a good round against us. We just lacked a little bit of quality in the final third of the field and settled for too many long shots." Head coach Steve Bellis said about the previous two games.

Against SMSU, The Golden Bears trailed 1-0 at intermission, but played a stellar second half outshooting the Mustangs 13 to 9 and notched two second half goals to claim the NSIC win and three points. Erica Landry and Kelli Heytens showed tremendous leadership on the field during the physical game and Kate Mallory showed great leadership on the bench, bringing energy and keeping the players on the bench in the game.

Senior forward Chelsie Lindsay tied the game at one in the 63rd minute, notching her second goal of the season. About seven minutes later sophomore defender Jade Weller would be selected to take a free kick following a Mustang penalty and with a powerful kick, she put the ball into the net giving the Golden Bears a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish.

On Sunday against Sioux Falls, CSP controlled the game and had plenty of opportunities to tie or take the lead in Sunday's game outshooting the Cougars 26-4 (9-1 on goal) but could not find the back of the net.
 
The first 45 minutes of play was primarily controlled by the Golden Bears as they out shout the Cougars 12-2 in the first half. However, Sioux Falls would jump out to a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute of the first half off a goal by Lauren LaFavre. LaFavre's powerful shot was deflected off a CSP defender head, which caused the ball to sail out of the reach of Emily Nelson and into the net.
 
Coming out in the second half CSP continued to control the game and kept the ball in the offensive zone but could still not score the equalizer. The Golden Bears outshot Sioux Falls 14-2 in the second half of play. Concordia did have their best chance to tie the game, late in the second half but were flagged for offsides.
 
Heading into Saturday, Concordia holds an 11-6-1 all-time record against Minnesota Crookston and since 2009, CSP is 5-1-1 against the Golden Eagles.
 
"Crookston, historically, has done well on the defensive side of the game. They don't give up a lot of goals and they do well on set plays, which is how they get most of their goals. We are going to change our style a little bit and make some adjustments to prepare for the grass field and their defense." Bellis said about playing Minnesota Crookston.
 
In last year's meeting, UMC would come away with a 2-0 win at home. The Golden Eagles used a goal in the first half from Kallie Gau and another from Delaney McIntyre in the second half to pull away from the Golden Bears.
 
The best chance of the half for Concordia came in the 30th minute as a UMC foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick for CSP. Taryn MacMillan took the PK for the Golden Bears but was turned away on a nice save by Lexie Gauger as she kept her team ahead with a save.
 
Looking ahead to Sunday's game at Bemidji State, CSP is 7-10-2 all-time against Bemidji State and have won the previous two meetings with the Beavers, both of which were shutout wins. In last year's meeting the Golden Bears claimed a 1-0 win on the road against Bemidji State in a defensive minded game.

The rivalry game against Bemidji State is also considered the Pig Game as the two teams play for a pig trophy. The winning team gets to keep the trophy in their possession until next year's rematch.
 
"The Beavers are doing well, they are coming off a tough loss to Minot State in overtime on Sunday, but they always play decent soccer. If we come out and play like we can play, it could be a really entertaining game, similar to our game against St. Cloud State last week. We are playing for pig pride and we want to keep that pig trophy here." Bellis said about Bemidji State.
 
In 2015, Concordia-St. Paul's defense stepped up in a big way as they held the Beavers off the board for their second shutout of the 2015 season. CSP was outshot 14-11 in the game, but were able to limit the number of scoring chances for BSU in an impressive defensive performance.
 
In the offensive third, Taryn MacMillan continued to impress since her move back to midfield as she netted her second goal of the season late in the first half. Freshman Jade Weller chipped in her third assist of her young career while Jessica Bianchi added her second assist, putting her in a tie for the team lead with six points on the year.
 
At the center of the defensive effort was senior keeper Emma Gartner. Gartner wrapped up her second win of the year with her second shutout as she finished with seven saves, including a few great saves, in the victory.
 
Follow live stats of the games at the links above.