ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear soccer team (9-6-1, 7-5-1 NSIC) has their eyes on a playoff spot as they head into their last two regular season games against Winona State and Upper Iowa. Concordia-St. Paul is sitting in 7^th place currently and the top eight teams make the NSIC playoffs.
 
The Bears will first take on the Winona State Warriors on the road on Friday, October 27^th before returning home for their last game of the regular season against the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Sunday, October 29^th. This game will be the team's senior night as they will honor senior captains Kelli Heytens and Shannon Wynne for their contributions to the CSP program.
 
The Golden Bears are 1-2 against the Warriors in the past three years. Each game was a battle and the 2014 and 2015 matchups both went into overtime. In 2014, the game was tied 0-0 at half, but each team then scored twice in the second half, forcing an overtime period. The Bears scored in the 7^th minute of overtime to come away with the win. In 2015, the first half was again scoreless. In the second half, the Warriors got on the board first, but CSP rallied for a goal of their own in the last three minutes of regulation play. This time, though, it was Winona that would score in overtime to win it.
 
In last year's matchup, the Bears outshot the Warriors 23-16, but the Warriors scored two early goals in the first half. Concordia answered in the second half with a goal from Kelli Heytens as she headed in a corner kick from teammate Jade Weller. The Warriors scored again in the 85^th minute to make it 3-1. CSP scored with 30 seconds left in the game but ran out of time to get another goal, going on to lose 3-2.
 
Winona State is currently fifth in the conference with an NSIC record of 8-4-1. The Warriors return 25 players from last year's roster, but have a fairly young team as 16 of their players are freshmen or sophomores. The team currently has a two game win streak as they defeated Northern State and MSU Moorhead over the weekend. Their offense has scored at least once in their past eight games and average 1.56 goals per game. Junior Abby Bohanski currently leads the Warrior offense with seven goals and six assists for a total of 20 points. Senior goalkeeper Rachel Oleson is their most used goalie playing in all 16 games, recording 89 saves on the year for a save percentage of .788.
 
After taking on Winona, the Bears return to their home turf to face Upper Iowa. CSP has a 7-7 series record against the Peacocks and have gone 2-1 in the past three years. In 2015, the Bears scored twice in each half and held Upper Iowa to only two shots on goal to go on to win 4-0. In 2016, the Peacocks held the shot advantage, but Concordia took more shots on goal. Jordan Rowan-Stafford, Katri Gifford, and Chelsie Lindsay all had goals in the game to lead the Bears to a 3-2 victory. Gifford had a four point game as she tallied a goal and two assists.
 
 The Peacocks are 4-7-1 in conference play and are coming off a 2-1 loss against Northern State and will take on Minnesota State Mankato on Friday before heading to St. Paul to take on the Golden Bears. They return 16 players from last year's roster and add four new players to this year's squad. The Upper Iowa offense has had six players score and average 0.93 goals per game. Their goalie, Caila Petrie has 76 saves so far this season for a .745 save percentage.
 
The Golden Bears are coming off a 0-2 weekend after losing 1-0 against Minot State and 3-0 against U-Mary. Against Minot, the CSP back line held their opponents scoreless with only two shots on goal until the 87^th minute of play.
 
CSP juniors Jordan Rowan-Stafford and Jade Weller continue to pace the offense. Rowan-Stafford leads the team in shots and points, whereas Weller leads the team in goals and shots on goal. Both Emily Nelson and Jordyn Clark have seen time in net this year for the Bears. Together they have recorded six shutouts on the year, Nelson with four and Clark with two.
 
Make sure to follow along this weekend at cspbears.com/watch as Concordia makes a push for the postseason in their last two regular season games against Winona State and Upper Iowa. The Bears play in Winona on Friday, October 27^th at 6 p.m. and at home on Sunday, October 29^th at 1 p.m. against Upper Iowa for senior day.