ST. PAUL, Minn. – To close out the regular season, the Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (9-4-3, 6-4-3 NSIC) will travel to take on Wayne State (4-10-1, 4-8-1 NSIC) before facing Augustana (10-3-3, 9-2-2 NSIC) at home. Sunday's game against the Vikings will be senior day for the Golden Bears, when they will honor the commitment and contribution of the team's eight seniors.
 
The Golden Bears are currently sitting in sixth place in the NSIC with 21 points. Minot State is two points ahead of CSP in fifth place and St. Cloud State now has sole possession of fourth place with 24 points. Behind Concordia in seventh place is UMary with 20 points and there are three teams all tied for eighth with 19 points. The top eight teams advance to the NSIC playoff tournament and the first four teams get to host a first round game.
 
SENIOR DAY
On Sunday, October 26^th the Bears will face the Vikings at home in the regular season finale. This will be the team's senior day, honoring Emily Nelson, Mary Kaiser, Brooke Salo, Madyson St. Germain, Katri Gifford, Jordan Rowan-Stafford, Jade Weller, and Sam Fredrickson at halftime for all of their contributions to the Golden Bear soccer program.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In their last weekend of play, the Bears went 1-1 with a pair of 1-0 decisions. CSP first defeated MSU Moorhead with a goal in the 87^th minute. The Bears outshot the Dragons 18-3, only allowing one shot on goal. However, Concordia did not score until there was only three and a half minutes left in the game when senior Jordan Rowan-Stafford fired a free kick into the top right corner of the net to lead the Bears to victory.
 
Against Northern State, it was the Wolves who would come away with the 1-0 win. The Golden Bears again held a strong shot advantage, 16-5, including holding a 10-2 edge in shots on goal, but the Wolves found the back of the net on a set piece play in the first half and their defense held on for the win.
 
WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears hold a 12-8-2 all-time record against the Wildcats, going 2-2-1 in the past five years. Five games in their 22 total games needed overtime to finish, including last year's contest. Half of those 22 games have been decided by only one goal. Throughout the series, Concordia has won three games in a row at three different points, most recently from 2011 to 2013. When playing on the road, CSP is 7-3-2, last losing in Nebraska in 2015.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
Last season, the Bears defeated the Wildcats 2-1 in an overtime matchup. Wayne State scored within the first five minutes of the game to jump to an early 1-0 lead, which would remain the score into the halftime break. In the second half, it was Brooke Salo who tied it up for CSP, taking a pass from Rowan-Stafford and burying the ball in the top right of the net. Neither team was able to score again in regulation and the game headed into overtime.
 
From there it did not take long, as then freshman Kiara Myers scored within the first 33 seconds, taking a pass sequence from Rowan-Stafford and Salo and getting by the defenders to loft a shot over the goalie's head to give the Bears a 2-1 win.
 
Concordia held a 15-8 shot advantage throughout the game, but each team took four total shots on net. Emily Nelson earned the win in net, making three saves.
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is 4-10-1 on the year, with a 4-8-1 record in NSIC play. They play well at home, as three of their four wins have come when playing in Nebraska. Their wins include victories over Sioux Falls, Minnesota Duluth, Upper Iowa, and Minnesota Crookston. Most recently, the team is coming off a 3-0 loss against Bemidji and a 6-0 win over Crookston.
 
The Wildcats present a versatile offense, as they have six different players who have scored multiple goals. Leading the way is senior Christina Stasi and sophomore Rylie Wehner, who each have three goals on the year. Freshman Alyssa Bagley has recorded the most starts in net for the team, tallying 38 saves and a .731 save percentage with a 4-6-1 record.
 
WSC scores an average of 1.33 goals per game, while allowing opponents to score an average of 1.67 goals per game. The team scores about the same amount of goals in the first half as the second, and has gone into overtime five times this season, coming away with a win in one of those games.
 
AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
Against Augie, the Bears own a 2-10-1 all-time record. Recently, the Vikings have had more of the success, winning the last six contests. However, eight of the 13 matchups have been decided by one goal or less. Both of CSP's wins against Augustana have happened in St. Paul, with a 2-4 overall home record against the Vikings. Their last win over Augie was in October of 2012.
 
LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
The Golden Bears faced Augustana twice last season, falling 5-2 in the regular season, but then having a closer matchup in the NSIC playoffs, ultimately falling 2-1. In the regular season contest, the Vikings scored twice in the first half and two more times in the second to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Concordia battled back though, as Myers and Weller scored seven minutes apart late in the second half to cut their lead to two. The Vikings added another goal in the final minute to seal their 5-2 win.
 
In the playoffs, Augustana once again got on the board first, scoring a first half goal. CSP's Rowan-Stafford evened it up at one apiece in the 66^th minute. Despite the Bears holding a 6-4 shot advantage in the second half and dominating much of the possession, the Vikings found a way to score again, this time in the 88^th minute. CSP had a set piece thirty yards out within the last two minutes, but were unable to get a shot off and Augustana came away with the 2-1 win.
 
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Augustana is 10-3-3 on the year and 9-2-2 in conference play, currently holding onto the third spot in the NSIC standings. The team has won an even amount of times on the road and at home and are most recently coming off a solid weekend, defeating Minnesota Crookston 7-0 before tying #3 Bemidji State, breaking their 15-game winning streak.
 
The Vikings have scored 27 times this season while holding their opponents to nine goals. They take an average of 19.6 shots per game with a .545 shot on goal percentage. Opponents have scored only once in the first half against Augie, but have scored six times in the second half.
 
The team's top offensive threat lies in freshman Alexis Legg, who already has eight goals this season, which is tied for fourth-most of any NSIC player. Julie Plonsky, Grace Behm, and Rebekah Thoresen are also active on offense, each scoring three goals so far this year. Redshirt freshman Claudia Pueschner has received all but one start in goal for the Vikings, recording 105 saves for a league-leading .929 save percentage.   
 
KEY STATS
-The team put up another shutout over the weekend, continuing to break the CSP record, now with nine shutouts so far this season.
-CSP ranks third in the NSIC in lowest goals allowed average at 0.66.
-Emily Nelson recorded her fifth shutout of the season and now ranks first in CSP history in most shutouts with 14.1.
-Nelson ranks first in the NSIC in goals against average at 0.34.
-Jordan Rowan-Stafford scored against MSU Moorhead and continues to lead the Bears in goals (6) and points (13).
-Rowan-Stafford is now tied for fourth in most career game-winning goals in school history with six.