ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Concordia-St. Paul soccer team will go on the road this weekend as they begin NSIC match play. First, they will take on Augustana (1-2, 0-0) in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Friday, Sep. 17 at 4 p.m. They then head to Nebraska to face Wayne State College (0-2-1, 0-0) on Sunday, Sep. 19 at 1 p.m.
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.
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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.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
Concordia-St. Paul currently leads the league in scoring with 10 goals and an average of 3.33 goals per game. Wayne State sits at 8th place with three goals and a 1.000 scoring average while Augustana is in 10th place with two goals and a .500 scoring average per game.
Head Coach Steve Bellis is looking forward to the weekend on the road, mentioning, "Both games will challenge us [and] test our team on a long road trip. Both play on grass fields which will be a change for us, however both are games we are excited to compete in and work towards a good result."
Augustana will play CSP coming off a 1-0 win against Nebraska Kearney on Sunday. The single goal came from senior forward Alexis Legg, her squad's tied leading scorer with one goal on the season. She is also tied for seventh in Augustana program history with 16 goals in three seasons.
The Golden Bears are 2-12-1 all-time against the Vikings and fell 3-2 in the last matchup between the two squads on Nov. 3, 2019 in Sioux Falls. CSP has never taken a victory while playing Augustana on the road, but the Golden Bears will be coming off a historic 7-0 victory against Rockhurst last weekend.
"Auggie has always been a very tricky, well coached team with tons of pace," commented Coach Bellis. "[They are] attack-minded players and also a mean defense with an excellent goalkeeper," he continued.
Of Augustana's 35 squad members, 17 are returning from the 2019 season when the team went 16-5-1, only to fall to Minnesota State in the NCAA Central Regional, 1-0.
Before Wayne State competes against Concordia, they will first matchup against Minnesota State (2-1) on Friday, Sep. 17. The match will be one of two home games for the Wildcats this weekend.
In the last match against WSC on Nov. 13, 2019, CSP took a 2-0 win to improve their all-time record against the Bobcats to 15-8-2. The last loss to WSC came in 2015 in Wayne when the Golden Bears fell 1-0 by a goal in the 63rd minute.
In regards to facing Wayne State, Coach Bellis added, "Wayne under new leadership is going to be a tough side. They are physical and will scrap to succeed."
Wayne State announced Emily Hester as the program's 10th head coach in February, replacing Joe Cleary. Hester arrives at WSC after being head coach for three seasons at Shepherd University in West Virginia (NCAA D-II). She also coached as an assistant at Southern Utah (NCAA D-I), Chicago State (NCAA D-I), and Southwest Minnesota State (NCAA D-II).
For Wayne State, senior midfielder Megan Phillips is placed fifth in the league for goals with two while sophomore forward Katie Anderson leads the league with three goals. Anderson also leads the league with shots (17, 5.67 Avg/G) and shots on goal (9, 3.00 Avg/G).
"We have a short time to prepare for both teams' styles. [Our] team is in a very positive mindset after this past weekend's display," concluded Coach Bellis.
The Golden Bears will play host to Minnesota Crookston on Friday, Sep. 24 at 7 p.m. and Bemidji State on Sunday, Sep. 26 at 1 p.m. for the first home weekend series and first home league matchups.
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