ST. PAUL, Min. – The #20 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (17-2-2, 12-1-2 NSIC) take off for Warrensburg, Missouri for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears will be playing in their first ever NCAA Tournament as the #3 seed and they will take on the sixth seeded Northeastern State University (14-4-3, 8-3-0 MIAA) on Friday at 10 a.m.
 
Like the Golden Bears the NSU RiverHawks will be playing in their first ever NCAA Tournament as well as they made it all the way to the championship game in their MIAA conference tournament before falling to Central Oklahoma in a shootout. 
 
NCAA CENTRAL REGION TOURNAMENT
 The Golden Bears, along with Northeastern State and No. 7 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State, will travel to Warrensburg, Missouri as Central Missouri was named the second seed and host of their side of the regional bracket. The Golden Bears are the seventh team sport on Concordia's campus to compete in the NCAA Tournament in the DII-era (1999-present). 
 
CSP dropped from second in last week's NCAA regional rankings to the third seed after falling to Minnesota State 3-0 in the NSIC Tournament Championship game on Sunday at Sea Foam Stadium. Minnesota State took over the top seed and will host their side of the bracket with a first-round bye, facing the winner of fourth-seeded Augustana and fifth-seeded Central Oklahoma heading to Mankato, Minnesota as well. 
 
The tournament field includes three schools from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), three schools from the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the automatic qualifier from the Great American Conference (GAC). Minnesota State, Central Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State earned the three automatic bids.
 
2019 NCAA Central Region Tournament schedule
Quarterfinals, Friday, November 22 – Warrensburg, Mo.
10:00 a.m. - No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul (17-2-2) vs No. 6 Northeastern State (14-4-3)
1:00 p.m. - No. 2 Central Missouri (17-2-1) vs No. 7 Southwestern Oklahoma State (13-4-3)
 
Semifinals, Sunday, November 24 – Warrensburg, Mo.
1:00 p.m. - CSP/NSU winner vs UCM/SWOSU winner

Quarterfinals, Friday, November 22 – Mankato, Minn.
No. 1 Minnesota State (17-3-1) (bye)
1:00 p.m. - No. 4 Augustana (15-4-1) vs No. 5 Central Oklahoma (14-4-3)

Semifinals, Sunday, November 24 – Mankato, Minn.
1:00 p.m. - No. 1 Minnesota State vs AUGIE/UCO winner
 
LAST TIME OUT
In their last game in the NSIC Tournament Championship versus the now #1 seed Minnesota State Mavericks. In the first half the Mavericks came out flying, 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 Clarkmade 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. 
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first time ever that the Golden Bears and the RiverHawks will play each other. CSP is 2-3 vs MIAA schools since 1999. 
 
ABOUT THE RIVERHAWKS
Northeastern State is 14-4-3 overall and 8-3-0 in conference play this season. They finished in second place in the MIAA Standings behind the now #2 seed Central Missouri. In their conference tournament they defeated Newman 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then defeated Emporia State in a shootout to advance to the championship game before falling to Central Oklahoma in a shootout. 
 
The RiverHawks have scored 42 goals and have only given up 23 goals this season, they have put up 369 shots and have allowed 221, they have recorded 191 shots on goal and have allowed only 98 shots on goal. Senior Mariah Nicolet leads the team with 13 goals and 30 points, Paulina Chavez has eight goals and three assists for 19 points, Sarah Rector has five goals and three assists, Paige Lorenzo has four goals and Sommer Franks leads the team with five assists and also has a goal. They have eight other players with at least one goal on the season as well. 
 
Freshman keeper Ainsley Cunningham has seen the majority of time in net for the RiverHawks, she has a 9-1-2 record while playing in 1,176 minutes and making 40 saves for a .769 save percentage and a .92 goals against average. Junior Brenna Hockett has played in 11 games and has a 5-3-1 record with 30 saves for a .732 save percentage and a 1.23 goals against average in 803 minutes of play this season.
 
The Golden Bears will face off with the RiverHawks at 10 a.m. at Central Missouri. Both live stats and live stream will be available free of charge for this game. The links to this game can be found on the soccer teams schedule page.