ST. PAUL, Minn. – In their next conference matchups, the Concordia-St. Paul soccer team (4-0-1, 1-0-1 NSIC) will host St. Cloud State (2-1-2, 1-0-1 NSIC) and Minnesota Duluth (3-2, 1-1 NSIC), facing the Huskies on Friday and the Bulldogs on Sunday for their first home games of the season. Friday's game will be at 5 p.m. and Sunday's game will kick off at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
The Golden Bears enter their second weekend of conference play still undefeated with their second-best start in their first five matchups since last year's squad who started out 5-0. The 4-0-1 overall record also marks the second time that the Bears have been undefeated to this point in the season under head coach Steve Bellis.
 
CSP is one of only three teams in the NSIC that remains undefeated, as #3 Minnesota State currently has a 5-0 record and MSU Moorhead is 3-0-2. and the other 13 teams have posted at least one loss. In addition, the Golden Bears are among the six teams that remain undefeated in conference play, joined by #3 Minnesota State, MSU Moorhead, Augustana, St. Cloud State, and Bemidji State.
 
NSIC DAY
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) will host its popular NSIC Day on Friday, September 27 in St. Paul, Minnesota as Concordia-St. Paul will host St. Cloud State in soccer at 5 p.m. and UMD in volleyball at 7 p.m.  NSIC Day celebrates all things NSIC and allows fans to learn more about our 16-institution league.

Fans attending the game will be encouraged to stop by the NSIC promotional table to enter to win an NSIC prize pack, take photos with NSIC props, and get a chance to chat with NSIC personnel.  Giveaways at the NSIC table will include t-shirts, rally towels and phone wallets. Snapchat filers will also be made available to fans at Sea Foam Stadium and in the Gangelhoff Center.  All fans will be encouraged to join the NSIC's social media efforts by using #NSICDay.

To be part of NSIC Day, visit Concordia-St. Paul's website for ticket information today.  Don't miss these exciting NSIC contests and a chance to leave with NSIC gear!

We want to hear your ROAR at the games, so come on out to Concordia-St. Paul this Friday and cheer on the Golden Bears for NSIC day!
 
LAST TIME OUT
In their conference opening weekend, the Bears tied Upper Iowa and defeated Winona State, earning four points on the weekend.
 
Friday's game was a heated battle as the temperature hit around 85 degrees in Fayette during the game. The Golden Bears dominated with shots and ball possession in the game as they held a 20-5 advantage in overall shots, they also held a 6-4 shots on goal advantage as well. The Golden Bears peppered the net with nine shots in the first half, eight shots in the second along with a shot in the first over time and two shots in the second overtime. 
 
The Peacocks did a great job of defending the Golden Bears and goalkeeper, Natalie Rudrud made all six saves and played the entire 110 minutes for Upper Iowa. For CSP, Hannah Pavek and Haleigh Bares each had four shots in this game and Jena Berkland had two shots on goal while Keeper Jordyn Clark shopped all four shots she faced and played 110 minutes for the shutout tie. 


Sunday's game against Winona State started out with the Warriors scoring a goal within the first two minutes of the game. Courtney Wiencek scored her first goal of the season at the 1:46 minute mark to put the Warriors up early 1-0. The Golden Bears would go on to dominate the rest of the first half as they didn't allow a shot on net after that early goal. CSP blasted 11 shots during the first half and kept Winona State to five shots. 
 
The Bears had a hard time finding the back of the net, until Hannah Pedersen got the second half scoring barrage started when she took a pass from Leah Johnson and found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 in the 50^th minute of play. Pedersen would strike again five minutes later when she put the Golden Bears up 2-1 with an assist from Jackie Ehlert. Concordia wasn't done there as Cayla Renwick and Nikki Anderson scored with in two minutes of each other to make it a 4-1 game. Renwick was assisted by Leah Johnson and Anderson was assisted by Hannah Pedersen. The Warriors would make it a little interesting towards the end of the game when Georgette Topalis scored her first goal of the season with five minutes left in the second half to make it a 4-2 game. The Warriors couldn't overcome the Golden Bear's four straight goals in the second half and CSP would go on to win the game 4-2.
 
The Golden Bears held a 22-13 shot advantage over the Warriors and also had a 14-5 edge in shots on goal. Senior keeper Jordyn Clark played the whole game and made three saves as she recorded her fourth win of the season. 


ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY 
The Golden Bears hold a 3-9-5 all-time record when facing the Huskies but have not lost to them since 2013. The Golden Bears defeated the Huskies 1-0 in 2017, It was their first victory over St. Cloud State since 2008. Last year's game was decided in a 1-1 tie at Sea Foam Stadium. In the last 10 matchups the Bears are 1-5-4 against the Huskies and in 13 of the 17 games played in the series have been decided by one goal or less and there have been seven games that have gone into at least one overtime. When playing at home, as they do this weekend, CSP is 2-3-3 against St. Cloud State.
 
LAST MEETING VS SCSU
In last year's matchup in St. Cloud, it was a scoreless first half as both teams had two shots during the half. Six minutes into the second half the Huskies would strike first when Hannah Marion took a pass from Nicole Friis and fired it past Concordia's keeper, Jordyn Clark. The Bears would answer back when Jena Berkland scored in the 69^th minute with an assist from Katri Gifford to tie the game at 1-1. The score would remain the same as the teams settled on a 1-1 2OT tie. 
 
The Golden Bears out shot the huskies in the game with a 14-7 edge and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. Jordyn Clark played in 70 minutes and made two saves and Emily Nelson played 40 minutes and recorded one save. Zoe Welsh played all 110 minutes and made six saves for the Huskies. 
 


ABOUT THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State is 2-1-2 on the year with a 1-0-1 NSIC record. The Huskies started their season with a scoreless tie against Michigan Tech at home they followed that game up with a 2-0 loss to Northern Michigan. They recorded their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the University of Bridgeport. 
 
They had their first NSIC matchups last weekend when they took on the defending NSIC conference champions Bemidji State University on Friday. The two teams battled to a 0-0 tie with BSU holding a slight advantage in shots with 12-11. St. Cloud State would record their first conference victory with a 2-0 win over Minnesota Crookston this past Sunday. 
 
The team returns 18 players, while adding eight freshmen The Huskies have scored five goals this season and have given up four, they have out shot their opponents 76-42, and have a .487 shots on goal percentage while their opponents have a .690 shots on goal percentage. 
 
Their offense is also fairly versatile, as four different players have tallied a goal on the year. Junior Tatyana Gusakow leads the team with two goals and four points, sophomore Claire Shea also has four points on the year with one goal and two assists. Juniors, Kaitlyn Dziubinski and Nicole Friis each have a goal on the season. Sophomore keeper Zoe Welsh has been the main goalie for the Huskies, posting a 2-1-2 record with a .862 save percentage.
 
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY
Concordia has a 1-16-3 record against the Bulldogs, but have gone 1-1-3 in their last five contests with Duluth. The Bulldogs had a tight grasp on the series, winning every game from 1999-2014, but in 2015 the Golden Bears snapped their winning streak with a 1-0 win at Sea Foam Stadium. CSP has a 1-8-1 record when they play the Bulldogs at home.
 
LAST MEETING VS UMD
In Concordia's last meeting with the Bulldogs, two overtimes were not enough to decide a winner, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Brook Salo had two shots and Jade Weller had three shots in the very defensively tight contest. Ng Sisley played all 110 minutes for the Bulldogs and recorded 7 saves while Emily Nelson played 110 minutes, faced seven corner kicks and made four saves in the scoreless tie. 
 
It was a back and forth first half as UMD put up eight shots and the Golden Bears put up six, it was the same style of play in the second half as shots were in favor of the Bulldogs with a 6-3 edge over the Bears. The Golden Bear defense was tested in overtime as UMD clapped four shots and CSP only had one in the first overtime. The second overtime was an equal fight as each team only recorded one shot and the game ended in a draw. 
 
UMD ended up outshooting CSP 19-11, but the Golden Bears had the edge in shots on goal with seven to the Bulldogs four. 
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth is 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in the conference. They started out the season defeating Northern Michigan 1-0, but lost to Michigan Tech, 3-2 the following game. They defeated the University of Bridgeport 3-2 to close out their non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs started out great in their first conference matchup, defeating Minnesota Crookston 4-0 at home. They hosted Bemidji State on Sunday, UMD struck first but a strong second half by BSU ended with a 2-1 Beaver victory. 


The Bulldogs have 22 returning players from their 2018 roster and have added nine new players for this season. Eight different players have scored for the team so far, with senior Emily Hinz leading the way with four goals and an assist. Nan Glinsek leads the team with three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Grenz has played in all five games for the Bulldogs making 17 saves for a .708 save percentage and a 1.44 goals against average while reordering one shutout on the season. 


The team has scored 11 goals this season, and have out shot their opponents 59-38, for a .186 shot percentage, the Bulldogs have put 37 shots on net for a .627 shots on goal percentage, they have held their opponents to 24 shots on net for a .632 shots on goal percentage. UMD will travel to #3 Minnesota State Mankato to face the Mavericks on Friday at 3 p.m. before traveling to St. Paul to take on the Golden Bears for their matchup on Sunday. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
If you are unable to make it out to Sea Foam Stadium for the home opener this weekend, the games can be watched online, free of charge. Live statistics will also be available. The links to these can be found on the schedule page.