ST. PAUL, Minn. – With three games remaining in the regular season, the #16 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (13-0-2, 10-0-2 NSIC) will host Wayne State (6-5-4, 6-4-2 NSIC) on Friday night, before heading to Sioux Falls to take on Augustana (12-2-1, 10-1-1 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Bears are currently in first place in the NSIC standings with 32 conference points and Augustana currently sits in second place with 31 conference points. 
 
Among the Golden Bears and Augustana, #21 Minnesota State sits in third place with 30 conference points, the Mavericks will host Augustana on Friday before heading to Wayne State on Sunday. Bemidji State sits in fourth place with 28 conference points and UMary is in fifth place with 20 conference points. This is the first time in program history that CSP is sitting in first place in the NSIC with three games remaining in the season. Also, the 32 conference points is the most a Golden Bear soccer team has even recorded in program history. 
 
NATIONAL & REGIONAL RANKINGS
They Golden Bear soccer team has moved up to #15 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Division II Top-25 poll. CSP was sitting at #16 the past two weeks and appeared in the rankings for the first time ever on 10/8/19 appearing in the #22 spot. Minnesota State also moved up to #19 as they were currently sitting at #21 last week.
 
As for the Central Region rankings, the Golden Bears remain in the #2 spot behind the University of Central Missouri who has a 13-1-1 record. Four total NSIC teams were ranked in the poll, with #19 Minnesota State sitting behind the Golden Bears in the third sport with an 13-2 record. Bemidji State sits in the fifth spot with a 10-4-1 record and Augustana sits in the sixth spot with an 12-2-1 record on the season. 
 
The women's soccer NCAA DII is made up of 23 conferences and 276 teams. The United Soccer Coaches was founded in 1941 and is the largest soccer coaches' association in the world, serving members at all levels. This region ranking is voted on by a committee of coaches and is distinct from NCAA region rankings.
 
SENIOR DAY 
On Friday, November 1^st the Bears will face the Wildcats at home in the regular season home finale. This will be the team's senior day, honoring Jordyn Clark, Leah Johnson, Hannah Pavek, Jackie Ehlert, Hannah Pedersen, Alexa Hepner, Sammie Zgutowicz, Anna Haub and Emily Boyer 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 2-0, outscoring their opponents 9-0. CSP first defeated MSU Moorhead 3-0 seeing three different players score in this game. The Bears outshot the Dragons 9-0 while putting six shots on goal, this was the first time in program history that a Golden Bear squad didn't allow a single shot against a fellow DII opponent. In the seventh minute Jackie Ehlert made a run and took a nice through ball from Jena Berkland to get the Golden Bears on the board early with a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Hannah Pedersen took a corner kick for the Golden Bears and found Haleigh Bares in the box, Bares put the ball away in the corner of the net to give CSP a 2-0 lead. In the second half, Jena Berkland would score the final goal of the game on a ball from Alexa Hepner, putting the game away with a 3-0 Golden Bear victory. Jordyn Clark played all 90 minutes recording the shut-out victory and with that win the Golden Bears set a program record for most wins in a season with 12. 
 
On Sunday against Northern State, CSP opened the floodgates in the first half with five unanswered goals. Nikki Anderson struck first for the Golden Bears in the sixth minute, she was assisted by Hannah Pedersen. In the 20^th minute of play it was Katie Anderson who scored to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead, she was assisted by Hannah Pedersen. Concordia recorded another goal this time it was Hannah Pedersen who got in on the scoring action in the 28^th minute to give CSP a 3-0 lead. Katie Anderson struck again in the 34^th minute of play on a ball from Hannah Pavek. Katie Anderson was not done there as she closed out the first half with her third goal of the game on an assist from Cayla Renwick to make it 5-0 Concordia. Anderson's three goal game ties her for second in program history for goals scored in a single game. The Golden Bears would cap off the game with their sixth goal of the game scored by Jessica Timpane in the 71^st minute, this was Timpane's first collegiate goal of her career. The Golden Bears outshot the Wolves 28-7 and 19-5 in shots on goal. It was a team effort as Jordyn Clark played in 76 minutes recording five saves and Sarah Golemme closed out the game playing in 13 minutes without seeing a shot. 

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears hold a 13-8-2 all-time record against the Wildcats, going 2-2-1 in the past five years. Five games of their 22 total games needed overtime to finish. Half of those 23 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 at home, CSP is 4-4, last beating Wayne 2-1 at home in 2017.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
Last season, the Bears defeated the Wildcats 1-0 within the final few minutes of the game. The Golden Bears outshot the Wildcats 9-8 in this game and 5-3 in shots on net. It took most of game for Concordia to get on the board and in the 82^nd minute Brooke Salo headed in a ball from Jackie Ehlert to put the Golden Bears on the board late. Emily Nelson and the Golden Bear defense secured the Golden Bear victory. 
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is 6-5-4 on the year, with a 6-4-2 record in NSIC play. On the road they have a 3-2-3 record. Their wins include victories over Sioux Falls, Minot State, Minnesota Duluth, Upper Iowa, Winona State and Minnesota Crookston. Most recently, the team is coming off a 3-0 loss against Bemidji and a 2-0 win over Crookston.
 
The Wildcats present a versatile offense, as they have eight different players who have scored at least one goal. They have three players who lead the team with two goals, Sophie Ketchmark leads the team with two goals and three assists for seven points. Rylie Wehner and Megan Philips also have two goals on the season. Rachel Grisham has seen the majority of playing time in net recording a 6-5-4 record, making 47 saves for a .746 save percentage and 1.04 goals against average with six shutouts. 
 
WSC scores an average of .73 goals per game, while allowing opponents to score an average of 1.07 goals per game. The team has scored 11 goals on the season and has allowed 16 goals. 

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
Against Augie, the Bears own a 2-11-1 all-time record. Recently, the Vikings have had more of the success, winning the last seven 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. The Golden Bears are 0-6-1 when playing in Sioux Falls, their last win over Augie was in October of 2012.
 
LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
The Golden Bears faced off with Augustana at home last year. The game was decided in double overtime as the Vikings won 2-1 over the Golden Bears. There was no scoring action in the first half as each team scored in the second half of this game. The Vikings struck first in the 54^th minute of play when Alexis Legg scored off of a rebound of Emily Nelson to give Augustana a 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears would answer in the 81^st minute when Jade Weller scored on a ball from Melissa Bear to tie the game up 1-1 and pushed the game into overtime. After an uneventful first overtime the Vikings would score the game winning goal in the second overtime at the 104^th minute as Rebekah Thoresen scored on a ball from Grace Behm form outside of the box to win the game for Augustana. Emily Nelson played all 104 minutes making five saves in the 2-1 loss.
 
 ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Augustana is currently 12-2-1 on the year and 10-1-1 in conference play, currently holding onto the second spot in the NSIC standings. The team has a 7-1-0 record at home this season and is recently coming off a weekend, in which they defeated Minnesota Crookston 3-0 before falling to Bemidji State 2-1 in overtime. 
 
The Vikings have scored 32 times this season while holding their opponents to 11 goals. They take an average of 20.3 shots per game with a .541 shot on goal percentage.
 
This team has multiple offensive threats as they have seven players with two or more goals. Claire Dahm and Grace Behm lead the team with six goals each, Sylvia Fehr has five goals, Alexis Legg has four, Jensen Froehlich, Kenzie Geiger and Josie Arduser each have two goals. Arduser leads the team with seven assists. Five other players for Augustana have recorded a goal this season as well. Claudia Pueschner has seen the majority of playing time in net for the Vikings, she has a 11-2-1 record with 71 saves for a .888 save percentage and a .67 goals against average. The Vikings will travel to Mankato to take on the #21 Mavericks on Friday afternoon before returning home to host the Golden Bears. 
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Depending on how these next three games play out, the Golden Bears have a chance to win their first ever NSIC conference title. If they take seven of the nine points in the next three games they will win the conference. They have the potential to host their first ever home playoff game in program history and could potentially host the NSIC semifinal games and the championship games. 
 
KEY STATS
-Program record in shutouts with 12
-Program record in wins with 13 
-Program record for conference wins with 10
-Currently on a five-game shutout streak (498 straight minutes of shutout soccer)
-Currently on a six-game winning streak
-Did Not allow a single shot which tied a program record and was the first time ever a Golden Bear team did not allow a shot against a DII opponent in a 3-0 victory over MSU Moorhead on 10/25/19
-Set a program record for most goals scored in against a DII opponent with six against Northern State 10/27/19 
-Jordyn Clark has set the program record for shutouts in a single season with 9 (9.3)
-Clark has set the program record for single season wins as a keeper with 13.
-Jordyn Clark and the Golden Bear defense currently has the lowest goals against average in program history and leads the NSIC in goals against average with a .33. 
-Katie Anderson is tied for second in program history with most goals in a game with three in the 6-0 victory over Northern State on 10/27/19
-Second in the NSIC in total points with 97, second in the NSIC in total goals with 34, leads the NSIC with 12 shutouts. 
-Hannah Pedersen leads the NSIC and is tied for fourth in the nation with 10 assists. 
-The Golden Bears are ranked fifth in the nation with a .33 goals against average. 
 
If you are unable to make it out to Sea Foam Stadium on Friday, you can tune in and watch the game live free of charge. The links to live stream and live stats for both Friday and Sunday's matchup can be found on the team's schedule page.