SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The #15 Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (14-1-2, 11-1-2 NSIC) lost their first game of the season in a 3-2 hard fought game against Augustana (13-3-1, 11-2-1 NSIC). This lost snapped CSP's seven game winning streak and their six-game shutout streak. The three goals scored by Augustana was the most goals this Golden Bear squad has given up in a game since October 31^st of last year against Minnesota State. 
 
With only one more regular season games remaining, the Golden Bears move down to second place with 35 conference points. #19 Minnesota State moves up to first place with 36 conference points and Augustana still sits in third place with 34 points followed by Bemidji State (31) and St. Cloud State (26). The Golden Bears can still win the conference with a victory over Minnesota State next Friday in Mankato.

Concordia now holds a 2-12-1 overall record against the Vikings and a 0-7-1 record when playing in Sioux Falls. The Golden Bears out shot the Vikings in this game with a 21-15 margin and a 11-9 edge in shots on goal. 
 
In the first half the Golden Bears started with two quick shots on goal within the first few minutes of the game. Jena Berkland took a shot in the first minute that was saved by Claudia Puescher after she punted Nikki Anderson had a scoring chance 25 seconds later that was saved by Pueschner. 28 seconds later Morgan Keirstead capitalized on an opportunity and snuck one past Jordyn Clark to put Augustana up 1-0 early in the first half. The Golden Bears continued to pepper the Augie net with a shot by Emily Boyer which was saved by Pueschner. CSP would get off two more shots both by Jena Berkland before Nikki Anderson took a pass from Hannah Pavek and scored in the 10^th minute to tie the game up 1-1. This was Anderson's seventh goal of the season, tying her with Katie Anderson for the team lead, this was Pavek's fourth assist of the season. After a couple of big saves by Jordyn Clark, Morgan Keirstead fired a shot from outside the box and found the top right corner to put the Vikings ahead 2-1 in the first half. The Golden Bears would continue to put the ball on net during the half outshooting Augustana 12-9 in the first half with each team putting seven shots on goal. 
 
In the second half the Golden Bears picked up where they left off in the first half, Leah Johnson fired a shot that just missed wide in the 46^th minute. 28 seconds later, Hannah Pedersen took the ball herself and got one past Pueschner to tie the game up 2-2 to begin the half. This was Pedersen's sixth goal of the season. Nikki Anderson tried to follow that up with another goal a minute later but Pueschner came up with the big stop. In the 48^th minute Bailey Parsons stepped up and scored for the Vikings putting them ahead 3-2 in the second half. The Golden Bears continued to pressure the Augie net the rest of the way, outshooting the Vikings 9-6 with 4-2 margin in shots on goal, but the Vikings held on to win the game 3-2 and handed the Golden Bears their first loss of the season. 
 
Jordyn Clark faced 15 shots and made six saves in her 90 minutes of action, this was her first loss of the season and her first loss since October 12^th of last season. Claudia Pueschner earned the victory making nine saves while facing 21 shots. 
 
Jena Berkland led the offense for Concordia with six total shot and three on net, Nikki Anderson had five shots with three of them finding their way on the net. Katie Anderson had three shots with two on net, both Alexa Hepner and Hannah Pedersen had two shots with one on goal. Leah Johnson, Jackie Ehlert and Emily Boyer had a shot in this game as well. 
 
Head coach Steve Bellis commented on his teams hard fought battle, "After a slow start we showed some good character to bounce back against a very well coached team. We will take the positives from our unbelievable run and bounce back for Friday's big match!" 
 
The Golden Bears will still have a chance to capture the conference title with their last game of the regular season against #19 Minnesota State next Friday in Mankato. If you are unable to make it to the match, both live stats and live stream will be available which can be found on the team's schedule page.