WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Third-seeded and #20-ranked Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer (17-2-3) advanced to the second round of the 2019 NCAA Central Region Tournament with a shootout victory over sixth-seeded Northeastern State (15-4-3) on Friday morning at Jennies Field.
 
Concordia, making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, heads to the second round to face the tournament host, the second seed and #4-ranked Central Missouri Jennies (18-2-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jennies Field. Central Missouri topped No. 7 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State earlier today with a 4-1 score.
 
Head coach Steve Bellis commented on his team's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and victory, "We came across a very determined gritty team, it took us a while to play with the surface and it was a wonderful goal by Pavek to get us going. In the second half when they scored to tie it up it looked like it was going to go into overtime. We had enough left in the tank to get us through shootouts which we have been practicing the past couple of weeks, so I was very confident in our shooters and in our team. Clark came up big for us, she's a first team all-region goalkeeper for a reason, I am very proud of this team." 
 
The Golden Bears and RiverHawks were knotted at 1-1 following double overtime. In the shootout, senior goalkeeper Jordyn Clark opened with a save to set the tone while senior Anna Haub put CSP ahead 1-0 in the best of five format. Clark saved another with freshman Nikki Anderson scoring for a key 2-0 lead. After NSU scored on its third attempt, senior Leah Johnson kept the streak going, converting for a 3-1 lead with the RiverHawks shooting high on their fourth attempt to end the shootout.
 
Goalkeeper Jordyn Clark commented on her team's shootout victory, "It was a really intense game, they gave us a real physical battle. Our girls were able to respond well and the girls on the bench gave us great energy and support, it was a great team game all around." 
 
GAME RECAP
In the first half the Golden Bears struck first and they struck fast. Hannah Pavek took one through the defenders and found the net from about 30 yards out to get the Golden Bears up 1-0 in the 5^th minute of play. The RiverHawks picked up their pace of play and possessed the ball 52% of time in the first as they outshot the Golden Bears 4-3 and each team put one shot on goal. The Golden Bear defense was able to propel NSU's attacks and maintain the CSP lead. The RiverHawks had three corner kicks and the Golden Bears had two as Jordyn Clark made one save in the first 45 minutes and Ainsley Cunningham allowed one goal and faced three shots without making a save in the first half.
 
In the second half the RiverHawks came out strong as they had a shot in the 47^th minute that missed the net wide. Four minutes later Sarah Rector took the ball herself up the middle and had a great shot that found the top right side of the net in the 51^st minute to tie the game up 1-1 in the second half. The Golden Bears would dominate the rest of the half as they possessed the ball 52% of time in the second half and outshot the RiverHawks 6-4 with two shots on net and held Northeastern State to just one shot on net. The Golden Bears had seven corner kicks in the second half to try and take the lead but Cunningham and the RiverHawks defense played tenacious and held the Golden Bear offense off to force overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 
 
In the first overtime the Golden Bears continued their dominance as they put two shots on goal and held the RiverHawks to zero shots. In the 94^th minute Nikki Anderson tried to go up top, but Cunningham made a great save. Again, in the 98^th minute Haleigh Bares tried to win the game for CSP, but Cunningham got low to make the save and the game would head into double overtime.
 
In the second overtime the Golden Bears again had two shots and the RiverHawks had a shot as well. In the 100^th minute of play Callie Rucker tried to win the game for Northeastern, but she missed wide which set up an opportunity for Hannah Pedersen and the Golden Bears, but Pedersen's shot also went high of the net. In the 107^th minute Jena Berkland tried to win the game for Concordia, but she was stopped by Cunningham and the game would be decided in a shootout.
 
 In the shootout, Paulina Chavez shot first for the RiverHawks as she tried to go bottom left, but Jordyn Clark made the diving save. Anna Haub shot first for the Golden Bears as she buried the ball in the right side of the net. Emily Seiler shot second for Northeastern State as she tried to go bottom right but again Jordyn Clark made the diving save. Nikki Anderson shot second for the Golden Bears as she buried her shot into the bottom left side of the net and CSP was up 2-0 in the shootout. Sarah Rector shot third for NSU and she placed the ball into the top right side of the net to get the RiverHawks on the board in the shootout. Leah Johnson shot third for the Golden Bears as she put the ball into the bottom left corner to give CSP a 3-1 lead in the shootout. Mariah Nicolet shot fourth for Northeastern amd she missed the net wide right and the Golden Bears won the game in a shootout to advance to the second round game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Jordyn Clark made one save and played in all 110 minutes and made two saves in the shootout. Ainsley Cunningham played all 110 minutes and made five saves. 
 
Katie Anderson led the offense for the Golden Bears as she had three shots with one on net, Hannah Pavek, Haleigh Bares, Hannah Pedersen and Jena Berkland each has two shots with one on goal. Leah Johnson and Nikki Anderson each had a shot in this game as well.
 
The Golden Bears will face the winner of Central Missouri and Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.