ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-2, 0-2 NSIC) dropped its conference home opener on Saturday night 24-16 in a closely contested game to Augustana (3-0, 2-0 NSIC) at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Golden Bears had the ball in the fourth quarter trailing by one score, but came up empty on downs in Augustana territory, misfiring on a 4th-and-5 from the Augie 43-yard line with 4:45 to play. The Golden Bear defense, which came up with big momentum plays throughout the evening, weren't able to come up with the stop on the ensuing drive as Augustana executed a pair of third downs, 3rd-and-2 from the CSP 49, and 3rd-and-3 from the CSP 27.

Concordia-St. Paul junior wide receiver Drew Enke had a career-best performance with seven catches for 163 yards and a long of 51 yards, coming down with numerous contested catches in big spots.

The Golden Bear defense was led by one of each of the three levels, with defensive tackle Koffi Gbekle producing six tackles, 1.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, linebacker Abe Schwinn with seven tackles, 2.0 for loss, a sack and an interception, and safety Cyrus McClure matching Schwinn's team-high seven tackles from the secondary.

On special teams, senior kicker Payton Eue connected on all three of his field goal tries, burying from 20 as time ran out in the first half, from 41 yards late in the third quarter, and from 21 yards with 9:19 to play in the fourth to cut the margin to 24-16.

The punt game had its hands full, squaring off against the nation's top early season punt returner who had a 40-plus yard season average to go with a pair of touchdowns of 85-plus yards in the first two weeks. Parker Dahlman was up for the challenge, averaging 54.0 yards on five punts including a long of 67 yards and despite Devon Jones averaging 17.0 yards on his three returns (3-51), Dahlman and the CSP punt coverage team carried a strong 43.8 yard net average as Dahlman boomed four punts of 50-plus yards.

Concordia also topped 100-yards on the ground against the Vikings, combining to rush for 107 yards on 33 attempts as a team including an opening drive 4-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Rene Zaldivar on a play with quarterback Conner Cordts lined up wide on the home sideline for Zaldivar's second touchdown of the season.

The drive was a tone-setting march as CSP rushed the ball all 13 plays, covering 75 yards in 5:55 of clock, converting a pair of key third downs as Cordts rushed for 11 yards on 3rd-and-3 from the Augie 44 and again used a 14-yard keeper on 3rd-and-8 from the Augie 18 yard line.

Cordts finished the night completing 11-27 for 183 yards without committing a turnover and added 6-35 rushing.

On the ensuing drive, the defense used its physicality, as well, picking up a sack from linebacker Abe Schwinn on the first defensive play and adding back-to-back sacks on 2nd-and-5 and 3rd-and-12 with Gbekle in on each of them, teaming up with Drake Teal on the first, to force an opening drive punt by the Vikings.

The Vikings would score on their next possession as the first quarter clock expired to tie the game, and scored a touchdown and field goal to claim a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter, connecting on a short field goal from 19-yards out with 22 seconds to play before halftime as CSP's defense came up with a goal line stand to stop Augustana after they had 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line with Ryan Martin and Brayden Hilgemann teaming up for a 3-yard loss on first down.

Before the break, Concordia stole the momentum back as Cordts connected with Enke twice, once for 9-yards to push the ball near midfield, before hitting him deep over the middle for 51-yards to the one yard line, setting up Eue's first of three field goals and bringing the margin back to a one-score game at 17-10 at half.

Augustana opened up its biggest lead of the night by scoring on the opening drive of the third quarter, claiming a 24-10 lead, and then forced CSP into a 3-and-out. But a 67-yard Dahlman punt from his own 31-yard line backed the Vikings up to the 2-yard line where Jones returned it to the 20, giving CSP the edge back in field position.

A key stop by the defense allowed Eue to convert a 41-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Another stop at the end of the third into early fourth quarter set the Golden Bears up with the ball on their own 31 with just over 14 minutes to play, with Cordts connecting to Enke for a 15-yard play on 3rd-and-7 from their own 34, and again on the next play for 33 yards into the red zone to the Augustana 18-yard line. A pass interference gave CSP the ball with 1st-and-goal from the Viking 2-yard line, but the Golden Bears were forced to settle for a short Eue field goal to bring the margin to eight with 9:11 to play.

Concordia's defense once again rose to the occasion, stopping the Vikings to a 4-play drive, allowing the Golden Bears to take over from their own 17 with just under eight minutes to play. Another Cordts-Enke third down connection pushed CSP into Augustana territory, this time a 29-yard strike to the Viking 48 when CSP would be stopped on downs (4th-and-5 from the Augie 43) with 4:45 remaining.

The Golden Bear defense limited Augustana to 53 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter, 51 of those coming on the ground and 36 of those 51 rushing yards coming on the game's final drive in the last 4:45 of play to ice the game. In the second half, the defense allowed just 141 yards and seven points to Augustana, a team that returned 10 offensive starters from the 2022 season and all 11 starters from week 11 of last year.

Augustana's offense was led by quarterback Casey Bauman's 15-25 passing for 243 yards and three touchdowns, adding 10-25 rushing. He found Jack Fisher twice in the end zone and three times for 77 yards overall. Running back Jarod Epperson had 12-80 rushing and 2-28 receiving to top 100 yards (108) from scrimmage.

Next up, the Golden Bears return to the road and will face sixth-ranked Minnesota State for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Mankato, Minnesota.