ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (8-1-2, 5-1-2 NSIC) prepares for two key conference match ups this week, facing the No. 3 Mavericks of Minnesota State and the Huskies of St. Cloud State.
Action will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. against the Mavericks on home pitch at Sea Foam Stadium before the team will travel on Sunday to face the Huskies. Sunday's game in St. Cloud will take place at Husky Stadium with a 12 p.m. kick-off.
This week's match up marks a pivotal week for the Golden Bears, with both opponents making the NCAA Tournament last season and all three teams racing for the top spot in the NSIC standings.
RECAP OF THE WEEK
Game One: CSP 3, MSUM 0
The Golden Bears scored all three goals in the first half on a dominant effort to hold MSUM to just one shot the entire half and taking seven corner kicks.
Just two minutes into the game, Haase headed the ball from Clare Snapko straight into the back of the net to mark her first and the Navy and Gold's first score of the game.
The Dragons responded a minute later with what would be their lone shot of the game. Goalkeeper Sydney Potter made the save and from here on out, MSUM would never see close to the goal again.
The Golden Bears gained possession and would hold an offensive effort that lasted 10 minutes without crossing midfield. In the 13th-minute Haase would find the net for her second score of the night, assisted by Maddison Balashaitis.
CSP proceeded to tally three shots and take two corner kicks before Snapko riffled her first goal of the season in the net in the 24th-minute to extend the Golden Bears lead 3-0.
In the second half, the Golden Bears were on a defensive mission, holding the Dragons scoreless while not allowing a single shot attempt while also seeing their offense show no signs of quit.
18 shots and three more corner kicks in the second half rounded out the Navy and Gold's start-studded game on the pitch to mark a season-high 36 shots, 15 shots on goal and 10 total corner kicks.
Game Two: CSP 1, UMC 0
In the first half, the Golden Bears were on the prowl, firing off six quick shots and taking five corner kicks to keep the UMC goalkeeper on her feet. CSP held possession throughout the majority of play but were unable to capitalize on a scoring opportunity.
Concordia out shot Minnesota Crookston 14-0 in half, forcing UMC to make seven saves heading into the break.
In the second half, CSP came out ready to see the net, taking just 36 seconds to get on the board. Brooke Nelson sent a corner kick shot flying to the front of the net to send Haase jumping through the hair, using her head to send the shot straight to the back of the net.
With the Golden Bears up 1-0, the Golden Eagles worked to get the ball down the pitch where they tallied their first shot of the day, sending the ball flying straight left of the goal.
Minnesota Crookston would go on to send just two shots on goal, both being saved by goalkeeper Kayla Matuzak.
18 more shots and one more corner kick would round out the offensive attack for the Navy and Gold and give the defense their second straight shutout and sixth of the season.
SEASON LEADERS
After her dominant effort on the pitch this past week, Sophia Haase now ranks T-1st in the NSIC with 23 shots on goal. In addition she ranks second in shots (42), T-2nd in goals (7), second in game-winning goals (4) and fourth in points (14).
Her game-winning goals rank seventh in NCAA Division II.
Lexi Pettit leads the team and ranks eighth in the NSIC with three assists.
Sydney Potter has now seen eight starts where she has tallied 19 saves and produced a 6-1-2 record.
On the defense, Belle Abruzzo leads the team in minutes on the pitch with 924-minutes while also tallying three points.
As a team, the Golden Bears lead the conference in shots (202), shots on goal (102) and shots on goal per game (9.27). In the NCAA Division II rankings, CSP is 17th in shots on goal per game and 16th in shots per game.
The Navy and Gold currently sit at second in the NSIC with a record of 8-1-2 which ranks them 17th in NCAA Division II with a 0.818 won-lost-tie percentage.
HISTORY BETWEEN CSP AND MSU
The two programs have met a total of 25 times dating back to September 10, 2002. The Mavericks currently hold a commanding 22-2-1 all-time record over the Golden Bears.
Last season, CSP fell 3-0 to MSU in Mankato, Minn at the Mavericks All-Sport Dome. Concordia last beat Minnesota State in the 2023 season by a score of 2-1 to advance to the NSIC Tournament Semifinals over then ranked No. 19 Mavericks.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State posted a (18-2-7, 11-0-2 NSIC) record in the 2024 season on route to making their first appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championship, where they fell 2-1 to the Champion Cal Poly Pomona.
On top of their National Championship appearance, MSU was the regular season NSIC Champion, NSIC Tournament Champion and NCAA Central Region Champion.
The Mavericks were picked to finish first in the 2025 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 224 points, right ahead of the Golden Bears in second. As a program, MSU has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 every week thus far, coming in at No. 3 in this week's poll.
MSU currently sits at (9-0-2, 7-0-1 NSIC) after topping Minnesota Duluth on Friday 3-0 and playing to their first NSIC tie of the season by a score of 2-2 with Bemidji State on Sunday.
The players to watch for the Mavericks are sophomore forward Marin Johnson who has a team-leading five goals and sophomore goalkeeper Lauren McAlpine who has started in each of the Mavericks games this season, accumulating 29 saves and holding a 0.953 save percentage.
HISTORY BETWEEN CSP AND SCSU
The two programs have met a total of 24 times dating back to September 15, 2001. The Huskies currently hold a 11-6-7 record all-time.
Since 2014, the Golden Bears hold a 4-1-6 record, with the two teams playing to a draw six times including a 0-0 draw last season in St. Cloud.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State posted a (11-4-5, 8-1-5 NSIC) record in the 2024 season where they made it to the NCAA Tournament, falling to MSU 2-1 in the Central Region First Round.
The Huskies were picked to finish fourth in the 2025 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Bemidji State with 176 points.
SCSU currently sits at (7-1-3, 5-1-2 NSIC) after falling 1-0 to Bemidji on Friday and then topping Minnesota Duluth on Sunday 2-1.
The player to watch for St. Cloud State is Linsey Trapino who leads the team with five goals and 11 points and was All-NSIC Second-Team last season after accumulating five goals and 13 points.
