ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded #20 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (17-2-2, 12-1-2 NSIC) fell to third-seeded #13 Minnesota State (17-3-1, 12-3-0 NSIC) by a score of 3-0 in the NSIC Championship game this afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
Concordia's record-setting tournament run came to a close as MSU scored twice in the first half and once in the second to claim their fourth straight NSIC Tournament title and eighth overall.
 
It was the tournament's most valuable player who provided the offense jolt for the Mavericks, as the best defensive team in the NSIC could not contain the best offensive team in the NSIC in the championship game. The NSIC Offensive Player of the Year and NSIC Tournament MVP Jenny Vetter scored two goals in Minnesota State's victory over the Golden Bears. This was the Golden Bears' first loss at home since October 28, 2018 in a 2OT loss against Augustana.
 
Concordia-St. Paul had four selections to the All-Tournament Team as Nikki Anderson, Jordyn Clark, Anna Haub and Hannah Pavek earned spots on the team. The quartet was joined by Vetter, Bri Ciaccio, Alesha Duccini, Taylor Kenealy and Alexa Rabune from Minnesota State as well as Morgan Keirstad from Augustana and Kaitlyn Dziubinski from St. Cloud State.
 
Golden Bears head coach Steve Bellis commented on his team's NSIC playoff run and their championship loss, "A big congratulations to Mankato as they brought a high tempo we just couldn't match throughout the game. Ultimately three games and an overtime game in five days was a bit too much. We look to bounce back and we look forward to preparing against our next opponent." 
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT PICTURE
The Golden Bears will learn their fate tomorrow in the NCAA Women's Soccer Selection Show as the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket be streamed online at NCAA.com at 5 p.m. (CT). CSP ranked second in the region behind Central Missouri while Minnesota State was in third. Minnesota State claimed an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, Central Missouri lost in the MIAA Tournament semifinal to Central Oklahoma.

The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 35-team NCAA Central Region. The top seven teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on November 23 & 25 and December 6 & 8. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining four spots awarded on an at-large basis.

The 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship will take place on December 12, 14 in Pittsburgh and will be hosted by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and SportsPITTSBURGH.
 
GAME RECAP
In the regular season conference championship, the Golden Bears prevailed in Mankato as their lone goal by freshman Katie Anderson provided CSP their first ever NSIC regular season title. In the rematch in the NSIC Tournament Championship the Mavericks came out flying in the first half of play. Despite Concordia possessing the ball 55% of the time in the first half the Mavericks outshot the Golden Bears 8-4 with six shots on goal to the Golden Bears one shot on goal. In the 31^st minute the Mavericks sent a cross into the box and Taylor Kenealy sent one back to Brynn Desens as she was posted up in the top right side in the 18, Desens shot found the back of the net and the Mavericks went up 1-0. Minnesota State was not done there as Jenny Vetter scored her first goal of two in the 37^th minute when she tipped a ball into the left corner on a through ball from Nadia Lowery to put the Mavericks up 2-0 in the first half. The Golden Bears tried to answer in the 38^th minute Nikki Anderson snuck one through the Mavericks defense, but it was saved by Alexa Rabune. Jordyn Clark made four saves and faced eight shots in the first 45 minutes. Alexa Rabune made one save and faced four shots and one corner kick in the first half for the Mavericks.
 
In the second half the Mavericks continued to poor on the pressure as they outshot the Golden Bears 7-4 with six shots on goal to the Golden Bears one shot on goal. Jenny Vetter struck early in the second half as she found the back on the left side of the net in the 56^th minute of play to put the Mavericks up 3-0 in the beginning of the second half. The Golden Bears poured on the pressure from there as the Mavericks moved to a more defensive style of play to hold the Golden Bears scoreless. CSP possessed the ball 57% of the half and had their best scoring opportunity in the 64^th minute when Katie Anderson was able to separate herself from a Maverick defender and found a shooting lane and put one on the right side of the net but it was saved by a diving Rabune to keep the game scoreless. Although the Golden Bears continued to put the pressure on the Mavericks the remainder of the game, Minnesota State's defense did not crack, and the Mavericks won the NSIC Tournament Championship. 
 
Jordyn Clark had a career high nine saves while facing 15 shots and three Maverick corner kicks. Alexa Rabune made two saves while facing eight shots and one corner kick in the championship winning victory. 
 
Nikki Anderson and Katie Anderson led the offense for the Golden Bears as they each had two shots with one on the net. Leah Johnson, Hannah Pavek, Tori Miller and Hannah Pedersen all had one shot in this game as well. 
 
Tune in for tomorrow's selection show to see where your Golden Bears will be playing for the NCAA Tournament. Also stay tuned for more soccer information which can be found on the soccer team's page.