ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul soccer (8-6-3, 6-4-2 NSIC) concludes the regular season on the road this Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Sioux Falls Cougars (3-11-2, 3-8-2 NSIC) at Bob Young Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are encouraged to 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.
 
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC soccer 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. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
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.
 
NSIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
With only one game left in the regular season before the conference tournament the battle to make the postseason is heating up. The top four teams in the final standings of conference play will host the first round, and the winner of the tournament will be guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament.
 
Last weekend, the Minnesota State Mavericks jumped St. Cloud State after the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs claimed a 1-0 win over the Huskies on the road. Northern State rounds out the top 3 in the standings and will host the first round of the conference tournament along with MSU and SCSU.
 
The Golden Bears moved into seventh place in the NSIC conference standings following their win against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Sunday. Just ahead of them is Bemidji State, who will host the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs this week. Augustana, who will travel to SMSU, and Mary, who will travel to Northern State, are currently tied for the fourth spot in the rankings.
 
The Golden Bears are still in the hunt to host the first round of the NSIC tournament. This is possible if the Augustana loses or ties since CSP has the tie-breaker over the Vikings, along with Mary and Bemidji State dropping their matches this week. On the contrary, CSP will need to win or tie against USF or have WSC or UMD loss or tie their games to solidify a spot in the tournament.
 
RECAP OF THE WEEK
The Golden Bears went 1-0-1 last week after playing to a 0-0 tie with the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday before besting the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles 5-0 on Senior Day Sunday.
 
Game One: CSP 0, BSU 0
Concordia-St. Paul and Bemidji State played to a tie for the third time in their 27 games series. It marked the first tie between the two clubs since 2012 where Brittany Kapala and Jess Bianchi each netted goals in the 2-2 draw at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
Jessi Jordan (4-6-2) collected her fourth shutout of the season. The junior goalkeeper finished with six saves, which is tied for the second-most that she has collected this season. Brittany Bordson played a pivotal role in the midfield as she, along with Tori Miller and Belle Abruzzo, played the entire 90 minutes for the Navy and Gold.
 
The Golden Bears controlled the offensive advantage in the first half as they held a slight possession edge over the Beavers with over 53% of the possession time in the half. Katie Anderson led the offensive attack with a trio of shots that included a shot on goal in the 39th and 40th minutes before being subbed out for Nicole Moore, who contributed with a shot for the Golden Bears in her four minute stint on the pitch.
 
The Beavers flipped the script in the second half as they outshot the Golden Bears 13-2 with five of their attempts on goal. Sylve Waters led Bemidji State with a pair of shots on goal, while Sydney Manthana added a CSP best two shots on goal. However, the CSP defense held strong down the stretch as Jordan collected her final save of the game in the 89th minute and the final attempt from BSU sailed wide left in the final minute to secure the 0-0 draw.
 
Game Two: CSP 5, UMC 0
The Golden Bears improved their record against the Golden Eagles to 18-6-2 with the 5-0 victory. CSP controlled the pitch from the opening whistle and collected 73% possession time during the match. They took several chances throughout the match, outshooting UMC 37-3 with 19 of their shots on goal.
 
Anderson added to her historic career in the Navy and Gold with a pair of goals to bring her CSP all-time leading goal record to 33. The San Diego native tallied a match-leading 11 shots and six shots on goal in her final regular season game at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
Sophie Pawlyshyn also shined on Senior Day with a pair of assists and her first goal of the season for the Golden Bears. The senior midfielder fired off five shots with a pair of shots on goal during her 55-minute stint on the pitch.
 
Bordson and Amaya O'Hearn each added goals, while Miller, Clare Snapko and Kloiber contributed to the goal-scoring with assists in the contest.
 
Jordan (5-6-2) made her 14th start in goal and improved her goals-against average to .99. Kayla Matuzak and Sydney Potter also made appearances in the match as the trio combined for the shutout victory.
 
In the first half, the Golden Bears got off to a quick start after Anderson chipped in her 10th goal of the season following a free kick from Pawlyshyn in the fourth minute of action. 14 minutes later, Pawlyshyn placed a corner kick inside the box that Miller then dished out to Bordson who scored her second goal of the season. The final goal of the half occurred in the 34th minute after Snapko directed traffic before setting up O'Hearn who fired off a shot that could not be corralled by Abby Olsen.
 
CSP continued their scoring into the second half as Pawlyshyn broke free from the UMC defense in the 63rd minute and won the one-on-one battle with Olsen with a left-footed strike that found the upper right corner of the goal. Anderson added her second goal of the match in the 86th minute with an assisted pass from fellow senior Kloiber.
 
SEASON-LEADERS
Anderson added a pair of goals against UMC to extend her season total to a conference-leading 11 goals. In addition, the San Diego native leads the NSIC in total points with 26 as she has also contributed to the Golden Bears scoring with four assists this season. She continues to add to her conference-best shots with 81 and shots on goal with 39. The senior captain has had a historic career for the CSP soccer program as she is the all-time leader in goals scored with 31 and is tied for second with Rachel Vitense (2003-06) in career points with 71 (31g, 9a).
 
Miller has had a stellar season on the defensive side of the pitch with 1501 minutes. The Bloomington native exited the pitch for the first time this season on Senior Day against Minnesota Crookston in her final game at Sea Foam Stadium. She also contributed to the scoring with six points after scoring two goals and adding a pair of assists. Miller was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week (9/25) following an impressive showing against MSU Moorhead and Northern State.
 
Grabau is currently second on the team and tied for ninth in the NSIC in points this season with 12. The junior (graduating) forward has netted five goals, which ranks tied for 10th in the entire NSIC. She has collected 30 points (12g, 6a) and four game-winning goals in her three years in the Navy and Gold.
 
Jordan (5-6-1) has started 14 games in goal for the Golden Bears and has a 0.99 goals-against average. The junior (graduating) has collected 48 saves (.800 SV%) and has faced 112 shots. She has gathered four shutouts and was credited with a combined shutout against Minot State and Minnesota Crookston last time out.
 
HISTORY BETWEEN CSP AND USF
The two programs have met a total of 12 times dating back to September 16, 2000, and the Golden Bears hold a 9-1-2 all-time advantage over the Cougars. CSP kicked off the series with six wins until USF was able to grab the one and only victory in 2016 at Sea Foam Stadium. Last season, after Nikki Anderson (2019-22) and Sammy Ponsonby gave CSP an early 2-0 lead in the first half, the Cougars responded with a penalty kick in the 70th minute and the equalizer in the 88th minute to force a 2-2 draw in Sioux Falls.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls posted a 0-12-6 (0-9-6 NSIC) record in the 2022 campaign and was picked to finish 14th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 38 points.
 
The Cougars are currently 3-11-2 (3-8-2 NSIC) after going 0-2 last weekend at home. On Friday, they fell 0-4 to the University of Mary, and on Sunday they dropped their Senior Day matchup 1-3 to the Minot State Beavers.
 
In non-conference play, USF went 0-3 with losses to MIAA and NCAA Division II Central Region opponents Rogers State at home and Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State on the road.
 
In NSIC play, Sioux Falls started 0-2 with losses to Wayne State and Bemidji State before claiming their first win of the season against Minnesota Crookston 3-0 on the road. After that, they collected ties against MSU Moorhead and Northern State before winning back-to-back games against Winona State and Southwest Minnesota State. However, their winning streak fell flat as they have lost six games straight and have been outscored 18-3 during that stretch.
 
The player to watch for the Cougars is #18 Sarah Miller. The senior forward has collected a team-leading eight points with four goals this season. In addition, she has fired off 14 shots, eight of them on goal.