ST. PAUL, Minn. – The NSIC champions #20 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (15-1-2, 12-1-2 NSIC) will host Wayne State (6-8-4, 6-7-2 NSIC) on Wednesday afternoon to kick off the first round of the NSIC playoff tournament. This will be the third time in program history that the Golden Bears will host a playoff game and the first time since 2006 when they defeated MSUM 3-1. This will be the first time that the Golden Bears will host a playoff game at Sea Foam Stadium, CSP is currently 7-0 when playing at home this year.
 
PLAYOFFS
The Golden Bears come into the playoffs as the first seed in the NSIC tournament after defeating #13 Minnesota State on Friday afternoon to capture their first ever NSIC title. Despite losing three straight games, Wayne State held on to become the eighth and final seed in the tournament thanks to a 1-0 overtime victory for Upper Iowa over Winona State. The Warriors only trailed the Wildcats by two points entering the final game of the season, if Winona State would have defeated upper Iowa, they would have moved into the eighth spot in the conference and Wayne would have been eliminated from the playoffs.

If the Golden Bears defeat Wayne State on Wednesday then they will host the remaining three games in the tournament, the semifinals on Friday and the championship game on Sunday. If the Golden Bears lose on Wednesday, then the highest remaining seed will gain home field advantage for the remainder of the NSIC tournament. If CSP defeats WSC on Wednesday, then they will play either the fourth seed Bemidji State or the fifth seed St. Cloud State who play each other in the first round on Wednesday. Augustana who is the second seed will face the seventh seed SMSU in the first round and the third seed, Minnesota State will play the sixth seed UMary in the first round on Wednesday as well. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
On a cold Friday afternoon the Golden Bears battled the Mavericks in Mankato, Minnesota for the NSIC title. The Golden Bears defeated the Mavericks 1-0 capturing their first ever win in program history over the Mavericks, moving to 1-18 all time against Minnesota State and capturing their first ever conference title in the teams DII history.
 
In the first half the Mavericks outshot CSP  5-2, but the Golden Bears edged them out with two shots on net to the Mavericks one. Minnesota State had a few chances with a shot by Brynn Desens that was saved by Jordyn Clark in the 15^th minute of play. In the 18^th minute Jenny Vetter missed the net wide left twice. Hannah Pedersen had an opportunity for the Golden Bears in the 9^th minute when she tried to go low, but it was saved by Alexa Rabune. CSP had another opportunity in the 27^th minute when Haleigh Bares tried to find the back of the net from deep outside the box but Alexa Rabune made the leaping save to keep it a scoreless game. Jordyn Clark made one save and faced five shots and two corner kicks in the first half. Alexa Rabune made two saves in 45 minutes of the first half. 
 
The quality of play was a little more equal in the second half as each team had four shots with each putting two on net. In the 74^th minute, Katie Anderson made a few moves outside of the box, found an open lane a took a rocket of a shot which found the top left corner of the net and over the glove of a leaping Rabune to put the Golden Bears up 1-0 in the game. This was Anderson's team leading eighth goal of the season. In the 79^th minute Jenny Vetter tried to tie the game up for the Mavericks, but it was saved by Jordyn Clark. In the start of the 86^th minute Minnesota State had three corner kicks in a row and had two scoring chances but the Golden Bears defense and a huge save by Jordyn Clark helped put the game away for the Golden Bears, sealing their first ever conference championship. 
 
Jordyn Clark made three saves in this game earning her 11^th shutout of the season (11.3) and her 15^th win on the season. Alexa Rabune made three saves and took the loss in her 90 minutes of play. 
 
Kiara Myers led the offense for the Golden Bears with two shots and one on the net. Haleigh Bares, Hannah Pedersen, Jena Berkland and Katie Anderson each had one shot in this game. 

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears hold a 14-8-2 all-time record against the Wildcats, going 3-2-1 in the past six years. Five games of their 23 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 2017 to 2019. When playing at home, CSP is 5-4, last beating Wayne 1-0 at home a few weeks ago on 11/1/19.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
The Golden Bears defeated Wayne State 1-0 at Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul in their last meeting a few weeks ago. This was Concordia's third straight victory over the Wildcats and look to continue that streak against them on Wednesday afternoon.
 
 In the first half the Golden Bears dominated with possession, having control of the ball 63% of the time. The Golden Bears also outshot the Wildcats with an 8-1 margin. CSP had two shots on net, in the 10^th minute Jena Berkland tried shoot it low but Wildcat keeper Rachel Grisham made the save. The Golden Bears had another scoring opportunity in the 19^th minute when Katie Anderson tried to shoot through a line of Wildcat defenders, but it was saved by Grisham gliding to her left side. Wayne State's only shot came in the 17^th minute when Rylie Wehner shot the ball wide right of the net. 

 After the seniors were honored at half time for senior day, the Golden Bears came out flying in the second half, outshooting the Wildcats 9-2 while also having three corner kick opportunities in the second half. CSP's only shot on goal was a big one, Katie Anderson took a pass from Hannah Pedersen in the 70^th minute of play and blasted a shot from outside of the box and on a line drive found the left corner of the net to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. This was Anderson's team leading seventh goal and Pedersen's NSIC leading 11^th assist. That goal would be all the top defense in the NSIC would need as they allowed only three shots in this game with none on the net. With that tenacious defense and tremendous ball control, the Golden Bears cruised to 1-0 victory and their 14^th win on the season. 
 
The Golden Bears put up a total of 17 shots in this game with three of them finding their way on the net. Katie Anderson led the offense with five shots total and two on net. Jena Berkland and Jackie Ehlert each had three shots, Berkland had one on net. Leah Johnson recorded two shots and Hannah Pavek, Sammie Zgutowicz, Emily Boyer and Haleigh Bares each recorded a shot in this game as well. 
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is 6-8-4 on the year, with a 6-7-2 record in NSIC play this season. On the road they have a 3-4-3 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 2-0 loss against Augustana this past Friday. The Wildcats have been shutout in their last three games.
 
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 6-8-4 record, making 62 saves for a .738 save percentage and 1.23 goals against average with six shutouts. 
 
WSC scores an average of .61 goals per game, while allowing opponents to score an average of 1.28 goals per game. The team has scored 11 goals on the season and has allowed 23 goals. 
 
Come out and support the Golden Bears as they prepare for a playoff run starting with the Wildcats on Wednesday. If you can't make it out to Sea Foam Stadium for the game at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, then tune into live stream and live stats which can be found on the team's schedule page.