ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (7-0-2, 4-0-2 NSIC) are back home this upcoming weekend, facing Sioux Falls on Friday, October 11^th and Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday. Friday night's game will start at 7 p.m. to kick off CSP's homecoming weekend. Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul, Minn.
 
The Golden Bears currently stand alone in second place in the NSIC with 12 conference points on the season. CSP is looking up at the top two teams tied for first in the NSIC, Augustana and Bemidji State. Both teams are 5-0-1 in conference play with a total of 16 conference points. Minnesota State is currently tied for third place with SMSU, both teams are 4-2 in conference play and each have 12 points. 

LAST TIME OUT
The team is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend, defeating Minot State on Friday night 5-0, before battling to a 0-0 tie with UMary on Sunday.
 
Against Minot State, CSP held a 12-1 margin in shots in the first half and a 21-4 edge in shots overall, while also outshooting the Beavers in shots on goal with a 14-1 edge. The Bears offense was rolling in the first half as senior Hannah Pavek got the scoring going with a goal in the 17^th minute on a pass from Cayla Renwick. A minute later Nikki Anderson got in on the scoring action with an unassisted goal to put CSP up 2-0. The Golden Bears weren't done there as Katie Anderson would score twice to close out the first half with the Bears up 4-0. Anderson's first goal was assisted by Hannah Pedersen. In the second half, Leah Johnson scored in the 66^th minute on an assist from Katie Anderson to put the game away and Concordia would end up winning the game 5-0. 
 
Concordia found themselves in a defensive battle on a windy Sunday afternoon against UMary in Bismarck, North Dakota. CSP had the winds on their backs in the first half and it showed as the Golden Bears out shot UMary 11-1 in the first half, Concordia ended up outshooting the Marauders 16-8 in the game and also edged them out in shots on net with a 10-3 margin. Both teams defense and goaltending were on full display as neither team could find the back of the net. After 110 minutes of play, the game ended in a 0-0 tie. 
 
Leah Johnson and Hannah Pavek lead the offense with Johnson putting six shots up and two on net and Pavek putting up three shots and two on net. Jordyn Clark played all 110 minutes for the Golden Bears recording three saves in the game. For UMary, Madisyn Waltman made 10 saves in 110 minutes of action in the scoreless game. 
 
SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 7-1-1 when facing the Cougars, and CSP holds a 3-1 record when facing Sioux Falls at home. Five of Concordia's seven wins against USF have been by two or more goals. The Golden Bears have played the last two games in Sioux Falls, the last meeting the Bears and Cougars had in St. Paul ended with a 1-0 Cougars victory back in 2016.

 LAST MEETING WITH USF
Last season, the meeting between the two teams ended in a 0-0 tie in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Bears dominated in shots, out shooting the Cougars 28-7. The Bears had nine shots on goal to the Cougars one. CSP also had eight corner kicks in this game and Sioux Falls had five corner kick opportunities. Jordan Rowan-Stafford led the shooting barrage for the Bears, putting up five shots with three on net. Brooke Salo also had five shots on goal with two on net. Jordyn Clark played all 110 minutes for the Golden Bears making only one save as the defense held the Cougars to only one shot on net. Brayden Paul played all 110 minutes for Sioux Falls, making nine saves in a scoreless game. 

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls is currently 2-6-1 on the year and 2-3-1 in conference play and currently sits in seventh place in the NSIC standings. They are coming off a weekend in which they went 1-1, losing to Bemidji State 1-0 and defeating Minnesota Crookston 4-1. When playing on the road, the Cougars are 1-3. The Bears and the Cougars do not have any common opponents yet this season.
 
The Cougars return 17 players from last season and added eight new players for this year. The team has scored six goals this season. All six of those goals have come from six different players. Lily McKown and Alexis Naujokaitis each have a goal and assist, leading the team with three points. Three different Cougar keepers have seen action this season, but Alexis Wemhoff has seen the most time in net for USF. She has played 531 minutes, has 37 saves on the season for a .881 save percentage and a 0.85 goals against average. 
 
As a team, the Cougars average 7.2 shots and .67 goals per game. They have a .092 shot percentage, but a .677 shot on goal percentage. Their 7.2 shots per game ranks 12^th in the NSIC. Sioux Falls gives up an average of 1.3 goals per game, which is 11^th in the conference.  
 
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
When facing the Mustangs, CSP holds a 9-11-1 record since starting to play them in 1999. SMSU won the first seven games in a row before the Bears forced a 1-1 tie in October of 2005. In more recent years, the Bears have won nine of the last 12 competitions, including the last three in a row. The Bears are 4-5-1 when playing at home against the Mustangs.
 
LAST MEETING WITH SMSU
The Golden Bears were victorious in last year's matchup, winning 3-0 in Marshall, Minn. Jena Berkland got the scoring started for the Golden Bears at the 25^th minute mark in the first half with an assist from Leah Johnson. Jade Weller scored in the second half on a penalty kick in the 67^th minute. Weller would score again in the 79^th minute to make it 3-0 Golden Bears, she was unassisted on the goal. Emily Nelson got the win for the Bears playing all 90 minutes and made one save in the game. 
 
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Southwest Minnesota State is 6-2 overall and 4-2 in NSIC play and are currently tied with Minnesota State for third place in the conference. In their most recent weekend of play, they defeated Minnesota Crookston 4-0, but fell to Bemidji State 3-1. On the season so far, the Mustangs are 3-0 when playing on the road.
 
This Mustang squad has many offensive threats, Alex Lotts leads the team with four goals and also has three assists for a team leading 11 points. Alli Miskowiec has three goals and leads the team with five assists and is tied with Lotts for a team leading 11 points. Abbey Hoisington and Erin Fisher each have three goals and Olivia Harriger and Jessica Jugovich each have one goal for the Mustangs. Amanda Haimes is 6-2 on the year playing in 720 minutes with a 1.00 goals against average, 29 saves, a .784 save percentage with four shutouts. 
 
SMSU averages 11.6 shots per game and score an average of 1.88 goals per game. Their defense gives up an average 1.00 goals per game and allows teams to take 9.8 shots per game. SMSU has eight goals in the second half and seven goals in the first half. The Mustangs will take on Minnesota State on Firday before traveling to St. Paul to take on the Golden Bears.
 
KEY STATS
-Katie Anderson scored her first ever collegiate goal of her career and also had another goal while recording an assist, producing five points in the 5-0 victory over Minot State. 
-Katie Anderson is now third on the team in goals and assists with two of each. She is also third on the team in points with six.
-Nikki Anderson and Leah Johnson are tied for the team lead in goals with four each. 
-Johnson and Hannah Pedersen are tied for the team lead in points with 11.
-Hannah Pedersen leads the team with five assists on the year. 
-Hannah Pavek scored her first goal of the season, her third of her career, and her first goal since 2017. 
-Sarah Golemme played in her first ever collegiate game in the 5-0 victory over Minot state, she played 11 minutes and was part of the team shutout with Jordyn Clark. 
-Jordyn Clark recorded her fifth and sixth (6.1) shut out of the season this past weekend, she now has 11 (11.2) career shutouts. 
-The Golden Bears are second in the NSIC with 18 total goals.
-CSP is second in the NSIC with 16 total assists.
-Concordia is second in the NSIC with a .44 goals against average.
-Jordyn Clark is second in the NSIC in goals against average (.379), save percentage (.902), and shut outs per game (.222). 
 
If you are unable to make it to the games this weekend or any of the homecoming festivities on campus, you can follow along with live stats and live stream for every home event this week. Links can be found on each team's schedule page.