ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul soccer (2-1) used a strong offensive attack to claim a 6-0 victory in the home opener against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (0-3) at Sea Foam Stadium.
CSP will return to action on Sunday to take on the Parkside (Wis.) Rangers in the final non-conference match of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Sea Foam Stadium.
The Golden Bears improved to 17-6-2 over the Golden Eagles all-time with tonight's shutout victory. Six goals is the most that CSP has scored on an opponent since 2021 whenever they defeated Rockhurst (Mo.) 7-0.
Concordia dominated the pitch from the first whistle. The Golden Bears fired off 28 shots (12 on goal) and held the Golden Eagles to only four shots (two on goal).
Corynn Grabau led the Golden Bears offensive attack with a pair of goals in five attempts, extending her career total to three. Sammy Ponsonby chipped in her second career goal, while Abby Kloiber, Tori Miller and Sophia King added their first career goals in the contest.
The Golden Bears featured two goalkeepers in the contest, as Kayla Matuzak (1-0) made her first career start and Sydney Potter saw her first minutes in the goal for CSP. They were able to keep the clean sheet intact with a notable moment coming from Potter in the 89th, as the freshman made an impressive save to cause the ball to coast over the crossbar.
CSP controlled the first half with 70% of possession time. In addition, the Golden Bears outshot their opponents 12-1, led by senior captain Katie Anderson who led the first half with six shots (two on goal).
Concordia struck with their first goal of the contest from Grabau in the 30th minute. The Golden Bears did not let up with the offensive push toward goal, as Anderson and Sydney Manthana added shots of their own in the following two minutes. However, the Golden Eagles escaped to halftime only down one despite an excellent chance from King from a corner kick in the final minute.
The Golden Bears were able to carry their momentum into the second half, as they netted five goals, possessed the ball for 68% of the second half and outshot UMC 16-2.
In the 48th minute, the Golden Bears were able to score the second goal of the game after Ponsonby added her first goal of the season, and Sophia Haase collected her first career assist.
CSP doubled their lead in the span of two minutes with goals in the 72nd and 74th minutes. The first goal was Grabau's second of the game following a double assist award to Nicole Moore and Jada Cannady. The second goal during this run came after Kloiber found the goal after Amaya O'Hearn set it up with a well-placed pass to extend CSP's lead to 4-0.
In the 81st minute, Miller found the net for the first time in her historic career in the navy and gold with a header following a well-placed corner kick from Kloiber.
The final goal of the match came from King after she found herself one-on-one with the Golden Eagles goalie following a strong attempt from Anderson, who was awarded an assist, to secure the 6-0 victory.
