ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team's (6-1-2, 3-1-2 NSIC) offense exploded past UMary (3-5-1, 2-4-1 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon in a 3-0 win at Sea Foam Stadium. The Golden Bears are now tied for fifth in the NSIC with St. Cloud State, as each team has 11 conference points.
This was the Golden Bears' fifth shutout of the year, allowing only one shot on goal throughout the contest. Through nine games so far this season, the Golden Bears have given up only four goals, allowing an impressively low 0.44 goals per game, which is the lowest in the NSIC.
With the win, the Bears claim their third victory over the Marauders in the past four years and the all-time series moves to 3-13-1.
All three of CSP's goals were scored in the second half, but each by a different player. Junior midfielder
Emily Boyer opened the scoring, recording what would be the game-winner in the 54
th minute when she took a pass from
Jordan Rowan-Stafford and lofted a shot over the goalie's head to give Concordia a 1-0 lead.
This was Boyer's first career goal as a Golden Bear. Rowan-Stafford picked up her first assist of the season and 13
th of her career, which moves her up in the Concordia record book as tied for the fifth most assists of any Golden Bear player.
Sophomore
Haleigh Bares was next to score for Concordia when she found herself open 25 yards out and fired a rocket that hit the top post and went in, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead in the 80
th minute. The goal was the first of her collegiate career.
Less than two minutes later senior forward
Brooke Salo joined in the offensive action as she broke away from the Marauder defense, taking a pass from teammate
Mary Kaiser, and beating the goalie to put the game out of reach. This was her fourth goal of the year and eighth of her CSP career. She currently leads the team in points with nine. Kaiser tallied her second assist of the season on the play and the fourth in her career.
In the first half, the Bears dominated much of the early possession, only allowing one Marauder shot through the first half hour of play, while firing four of their own. In the final 15 minutes, UMary compiled more of an offensive threat, taking the final three shots of the half to even up the shots at four apiece. Neither team was able to take a shot on goal throughout the first 45 minutes.
The Bears held a 7-5 advantage in shots in the second half and all three of their shots on goal found the back of the net. The Marauders took their first shot on goal of the game in the 90
th minute, which was handled by junior goalie
Jordyn Clark.
Clark recorded the win in net for the Golden Bears and remains undefeated on the season with a 5-0-1 record. Despite only recording one save in the game, Clark played aggressive throughout, interrupting several crosses and through balls on her way to her second full shutout of the year.
The Golden Bears head on the road next weekend, taking on Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. CSP first plays Sioux Falls on Friday, October 5
th and then faces SMSU on Sunday. Both games will kickoff at 1 p.m. Check the schedule page for live stat and video links.
