ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (7-6-2, 6-4-2 NSIC) will travel to Marshall, Minn. on Friday, Oct. 29 to play Southwest Minnesota State (4-9-1, 3-8-1 NSIC) at 6 p.m. and then will host Sioux Falls (3-9-3, 3-6-3 NSIC) at Sea Foam Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. 

Ahead of the weekend, Head Coach Steve Bellis commented, "Our focus is to get as many points on the board as possible in the season run in." 

The Golden Bears currently sit at the 7th mark in NSIC standings with hopes to further secure their position in the conference tournament after this weekend. With 20 points, CSP is one point behind Northern State in 6th and five points ahead of Wayne State in 8th. 

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear soccer games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. 
 
All home games will feature the play-by-play broadcasting provided by Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. The St. Paul, Minnesota native studied broadcasting at Fordham University (N.Y.) where he was the voice of the Rams' football and basketball teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
 
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
New this year to Golden Bears is online ticketing. Buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with cash at the gates. Find out more in the partnership announcement between CSP Athletics and HomeTown Ticketing.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS 
The SMSU Mustangs are currently 12th in the NSIC with 10 points. They will host the Golden Bears after a split weekend on the road. They fell to Bemidji State on Friday, Oct. 22 4-0 but then rallied to defeat Minnesota Crookston on Sunday, Oct. 24 4-1. 

The Golden Bears and the Mustangs share an all-time record of 11-11-1 against each other with the last contest being a Bears 1-0 OT win on Oct. 13, 2019 at Sea Foam Stadium. The game winning goal was scored by current Golden Bear midfielder Jena Berkland. The win improved on CSP's win streak over the Mustangs, extending it to four in a row dating back to 2016. 

Offensively, the Mustangs are carried by Alex Lotts, a sophomore forward who has four goals and four assists on the 2021 season. She also had one goal and one assist in the 4-1 win over Minnesota Crookston. With her four assists in 14 games, Lotts averages .286 goals/ game and sits at 14th on the NSIC leaderboard. 

Additionally, the Mustangs have received scoring help from junior forward Abbey Hoisington who also has four goals. Lotts and Hoisington are currently tied for 16th on the NSIC leaderboard with their four goals apiece. 

Defensively, the Mustangs have seen big minutes from defenders Katie Oatman, Hayleigh Young, Emma Dahnert, and goalkeeper Meghan Harkin. Oatman leads her squad with 1239 while Young and Dahnert follow with 1077 and 1037, respectively. 

Redshirt freshman keeper Harkin has started and played in 13 of 14 games for SMSU, totaling 1083 minutes. During that time, she has allowed 16 goals against, averages 1.33 per game (10th in NSIC), and has made 50 saves (12th in NSIC). She has earned two shutouts on the season and her 3.85 saves per game has her at 11th in the NSIC. 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS 
The USF Cougars sit one place ahead of the Mustangs in conference standings at 11th. With 12 points, the Cougars sit two ahead of SMSU and only three behind Wayne State for a top-eight spot. Sioux Falls will play Minnesota State at home on Friday, Oct. 29 before traveling to St. Paul. The Mavericks are currently second in the NSIC with 31 points. 

Since their first matchup in 2000, the Bears have commanded an 8-1-1 record over the Cougars. The only loss to the Sioux Falls squad came back in 2016 with a 1-0 final score. In the last contest between the squads, the Bears took a 3-1 victory at Sea Foam Stadium in 2019. 

In the last victory, current Golden Bears Katie Anderson and Nikki Anderson both saw playing time and made an impact. Katie Anderson opened scoring for the match while Nikki Anderson assisted the next goal and secured her own goal in the 58th minute. 

With four points, junior forward Grace Held leads the Cougar offense. She earned her second goal of the season the previous weekend against Minnesota Crookston. She is tied for 6th in the conference with two game-winning goals. 

Further, five Sioux Falls players have scored a single goal in 2021. 

In minutes played, defenders Kelsey Oswald (1378), Bailey Kehrli (1304), Julia Kreutner (1278), and Lauren Johnson (1071) lead their squad through 15 games. 

The USF net has been shared by three Cougars with graduate student Alexis Wemhoff getting the lion's share of minutes at 757. In her nine games started and played, she has allowed 10 goals, made 90 saves (2nd in NSIC), holds an .806 GAA (4th in NSIC), and averages 11.29 saves per game (1st in NSIC). 
 
Coach Bellis also adds, "We need to build on our strong defensive performance [last] Sunday and feel confident in taking the chances we create offensively. Both games will be challenging and we are ready to compete!" 

Following the weekend, the Golden Bears will finish off the 2021 season by hosting #24 Minnesota State at Sea Foam Stadium on Friday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. As of this writing, the Mavericks sit at 2nd in NSIC standings. 
 

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