ST. PAUL, Minn. – A late goal by Alexa Hepner gave the #16 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (10-0-2, 7-0-2 NSIC) a 1-0 victory over the defending NSIC champions Bemidji State Beavers (8-3-1, 7-1-1 NSIC) at home on Friday night.
The Beavers were tied with Augustana for first place in the NSIC going into this game. With this victory, the Golden Bears move ahead of Bemidji State in the standings with 23 conference points. Augustana is still in first place with 25 conference points.
Concordia is now 9-12-2 in their all-time series history with the Beavers and move to 6-5-1 when playing the Beavers at home. The 1-0 score marks the ninth shutout for the Golden Bears squad and their sixth one goal game victory of the season.
It was a back and forth physical first half at Sea Foam Stadium. The Beavers had the slight edge in ball possession with 54% in the first half. Each team got off eight shots in the half, Concordia got two on goal and Bemidji State had three on net.
Leah Johnson and
Haleigh Bares had the two scoring chances for the Golden Bears in the first half but they were saved by Beaver goalkeeper Emma Riedi. The Golden Bears defense was tested heavily in the first half as the Beavers had four corner kicks but the CSP defense held fast and defended their net well in the box. Senior goalkeeper
Jordyn Clark made three saves in the first half for the Golden Bears.
The physical intensity continued in the second half, as there were eight total fouls called on each team in the second half. CSP dominated with a 10-3 margin in shots in the second half. The Golden Bears had multiple scoring chances in this half starting with
Hannah Pavek's chance in the 50
th minute when she tried to go bottom left but was stopped by Emma Riedi. In the 75
th minute,
Kiara Myers had a great chance for the Golden Bears, but it was deflected by Riedi and the rebound was picked up by a Beaver defender and forced out of bounds, setting up for a Golden Bear corner kick.
Cayla Renwick took the corner and found a leaping Alexa Hepner in the box, Hepner headed it in the left side of the goal in the 76
th minute mark to give CSP the lead. Bemidji State put good pressure on the Bears the rest of the game but CSP's top defense in the league was there to shut the door in the 1-0 Golden Bear victory.
Concordia's keeper,
Jordyn Clark made four saves in 90 minutes of play, earning herself her eighth shutout of the season and her 10
th win of the season. Emma Riedi made five saves in 90 minutes for Bemidji State, she is now 4-1-1 on the season.
Leah Johnson and
Haleigh Bares led the offensive attack for the Golden Bears, they each had three shots with one on the net.
Hannah Pavek had two shots with one on net, Alexa Hepner had the lone goal for the Bears, this was her first career goal with CSP.
Jackie Ehlert,
Hannah Pedersen,
Emily Boyer,
Jena Berkland,
Kiara Myers,
Sophie Pawlyshyn,
Katie Anderson and
Cayla Renwick each recorded a shot in this game.
Head coach
Steve Bellis commented on his teams huge victory on Friday night, "It was a great result for our team, we battled a tough wind in the first half and limited them to long free kicks for the most part. We knew the second half with the wind we'd dominate and ultimately we took our chance very well. BSU is a very well coached squad and we are excited to get a result with a great performance."
The Golden Bears will take on Minnesota Crookston on Sunday, October 20
th at 1 p.m. at Sea Foam Stadium If you are unable to make it out for the game, use the links at the top of the page to follow along with all the action. Live stat and video links can also be found on the soccer schedule page.
