ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (9-4-1, 7-3-1 NSIC) is getting ready to travel to North Dakota to take on both Minot State and U-Mary this upcoming weekend. The Golden Bears have now tied the Concordia record for most conference wins in a season, and there are still four regular season conference games left this year.
 
The Bears, who are currently sitting fifth in the conference, will face some tough competition, as Minot is two points ahead of Concordia, and U-Mary is two points behind.
 
First up, the Golden Bears will face the Minot State Beavers on Saturday, October 21^st. The Beavers are currently in fourth place in the NSIC with an 8-3 NSIC record. They have won their last six games and are coming off a 4-1 win against Winona State. In the last three years, the Bears are 0-3 against the Beavers, but both the 2015 and 2016 games were 1-0 games. In both of those games, the Beavers scored in the first ten minutes and were able to hold on the rest of the game for the win.
 
Minot State returns 21 players, but lose their top-two goal scorers from the 2016 season, including Ninfa Ramirez who led the league in goals last year with 18. This season, though, they gained a big offensive threat in freshman Sofia Lewis, who already has ten goals this year, which is currently tied for the most in the NSIC. The Beavers also have six other players who have more than one goal and are outscoring other teams 36-8. Minot State returns their most experienced goalkeeper, sophomore Erin Rafferty. Rafferty had an .852 save percentage in the 2016 season and has fourteen starts so far this season with 49 saves for an .860 save percentage.
 
After taking on Minot State, the Bears will face the U-Mary Marauders the following day, October 22^nd.  The Marauders are currently 6-3-2 in the conference and are sitting in sixth place, right behind the Golden Bears. They are coming off a 2-0 win against Upper Iowa and will face Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday before taking on CSP.
 
In the last three years, the Bears have gone 2-1 against the Marauders. In 2014, U-Mary scored in the fourth minute of overtime to beat the Bears 1-0. CSP bounced back the following year, beating the Marauders 3-1 and then 2-1 in the 2016 matchup. In the 2-1 victory, Brooke Salo scored twice in the first half which was enough to secure the victory.
 
The Marauders return 19 players, including a trio of juniors that have five or more goals this season. Forwards Jade Smith and Megan Lowery have six goals apiece and teammate Caylin Cathey is not far behind with five. U-Mary also returns their most experienced goalkeeper, senior Hannah Smith, who currently has 57 saves for a .864 save percentage.
 
Concordia has won their last three games, two of which they won in overtime. In their first overtime win over Wayne State, freshman Kiara Myers scored 33 seconds into overtime to win it for the Bears. The next game against MSU Moorhead, freshman Cayla Renwick scored the game-winner with only 47 seconds left in the second overtime period. The Bears' most recent win was a 1-0 victory over Northern State. Junior Jade Weller headed in a corner kick from teammate Madyson St. Germain in the first half and the defense took care of the rest.
 
Weller currently leads the offense with four goals and Renwick is close behind with three. Junior Jordan Rowan-Stafford leads the team in points with ten. The defense is also coming off a strong weekend of play, only allowing nine shots in the last two games, with only two of them being on goal. The defense also tallied their fifth and sixth shutouts of the season with their last two wins.
 
You can follow along with all the soccer action this weekend at cspbears.com/watch.