St. Paul, Minn. - The Concordia- St. Paul soccer team (3-2-2) dropped their home-opener 2-1 against the Wolves of Northern State (3-2-2) on Friday evening at Sea Foam Stadium.
Following the loss, Head Coach Steve Bellis stated, "We came across a team that battled very hard and played a style that we didn't deal with well enough."
Bellis added, "It's a tough result for us, hopefully we can learn from it and bounce back on Sunday."
In a physical first half, the Wolves got on the board first at the 35th minute with a shot by Eva Larson.
The Golden Bears and Wolves went back and forth, each having three shots in the first half with Concordia not able to capitalize on any scoring.
In the second half, NSU got off to a fast start scoring their second goal at the 52nd minute mark with a shot by Megan Fastenau.
CSP was not going away without a fight, and was determined to get on the board.
At the 85th minute, Sophia King scored her second goal of the season off an assist by Sammy Ponsonby.
The Golden Bears held the shot advantage 7-6, including four shots in the second half.
Junior Kayla Matuzak got her fifth start of the season in the net for the Golden Bears. She recorded two saves on the day to bring her season total to 13. At the 38th minute, Matuzak suffered an apparent injury and left the game.
Sophomore Sydney Potter came in relief for Matuzak and finished out the game.
Belle Abruzzo led the team with three shots and held down the defensive side of the pitch.
CSP soccer will look to bounce-back on Sunday where they will host the Dragons of MSU Moorhead at Sea Foam Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. to wrap up homecoming weekend.
