ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia St. Paul soccer team falls to 9-6-1 on the season and 7-5-1 in the conference as the University of Mary Marauders (9-4-2, 7-4-2 NSIC) scored three times to defeat the Bears on Sunday afternoon. CSP is now in 7th place in the NSIC with two regular season games left to play.
 
The Golden Bears won both the 2015 and 2016 matchups against the Marauders. In 2015 Concordia scored three times in the first half to go on to win 3-1. Juniors Jordan Rowan-Stafford and Brooke Salo both had assists in that game. In 2016, it was Salo who scored twice in the first half to win it for the Bears 2-1. In this year's matchup, it would be the Marauders who came out on top as they scored three times off free kick plays, twice in the first half and once in the second half.
 
Both teams were coming into today's game off a loss. The Bears had lost 1-0 against Minot State and the Marauders had lost 5-2 against Minnesota State the previous day. U-Mary's offense, though, has been on a hot streak, scoring at least once in their last eight straight games. Five of those games were multi-goal games.
 
In the first half, the Bears came out strong and dominated the first fifteen minutes of possession, taking four shots, with two being on goal. U-Mary did not get a shot off until almost the 17th minute of play. After that, the play went back and forth with the Marauders getting some chances of their own. Emma Davies broke the tie in the 24^th minute when she scored off a free kick passed by teammate Caylin Cathey to put the Marauders up 1-0. U-Mary would score again in the half off of another free kick. This time it was Megan Lowery who headed it in for U-Mary off a free kick pass from Tiffany Ohlhauser. The Bears got off five shots in the half, but could not convert for a goal of their own.
 
The second half began again with Concordia having much of the possession and firing the first shots, including an open look for Jordan Rowan-Stafford and a header from freshman Haleigh Bares that went just wide. Rowan-Stafford created a lot of opportunities for the Bears taking a team-leading three shots and putting lots of pressure on the opponents' defenders. The Marauders scored once more, again off a free kick to make the final 3-0 in their favor.
 
Jordyn Clark and Emily Nelson split the goalkeeping in the game, but Clark would take the loss. Clark is now 3-3-1 on the season. Nelson had two saves in the second half, including a one-handed save that she deflected over the net off a nice free kick shot.
 
The Bears have the week to prepare for their last two regular season conference matchups against Winona State and Upper Iowa. They first take on Winona State on Friday, October 27^th at 6 p.m. in Winona. They then return to Sea Foam Stadium to play Upper Iowa at 1 p.m. on October 29^th. Concordia will honor their two seniors, Kelli Heytens and Shannon Wynne, during this match. Be there to support the Golden Bears or follow along online at cspbears.com/watch.