MANKATO, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (12-3-5, 9-3-3 NSIC) had their NSIC Tournament run halted by the Mavericks of Minnesota State (16-1-3, 13-1-1 NSIC) falling 4-2 in penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods in the NSIC Semifinals on a sunny Friday at The Pitch.
Following the game, head coach Steve Bellis stated, "In a game where we felt confident on the ball and we dominated for long periods, it stings not to advance."
Bellis added, "We feel good about the way we played and our style of play created some great chances for us today and throughout the season. It's been a fun season and we will continue to develop."
The Golden Bears played their hearts out from start to finish, opening the first half with the first shot of the game.
The two squads created frequent possession changes to which no team was able to capitalize on until the 20th-minute, a scramble in the offensive zone gave the Navy and Gold an opportunity to get a quick pass to the back of the net and get the early lead. Sophia Haase scored her 10th goal of the season with assists from Nicole Moore and Stella Nielsen.
Concordia's lead would be short lived, with the Mavericks responding just over a minute later with a goal of their own on a high pass, to the upper right of the net to even the score. Maddix Archer was the goal scorer for Minnesota State.
From here on out it was a race to see which team could make a play, a 6-0 shot run for CSP would end the first half.
Coming out from the break, both teams were hungry to get their squad on top. The Mavericks rifled off three straight corner kicks that the CSP defense cleared each time.
After a long winded time of possession for the Purple and Black it was the Navy and Gold's time, holding three shots before each team would trade fouls.
A final shot from each team would end regulation play and send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, senior Sophia King notched a trio of back-to-back shots, trying to put an end to play. This offensive drive would be unsuccessful and one final shot of target from the Mavericks would send the game to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, CSP would hold the slight shot-advantage 2-1 but neither side would have a great look and the game would need to be decided by penalty kicks.
The Mavericks took the pitch first in Pks, with both teams missing their first shot attempts.
MSU went on to make their next three straight attempts to put the Golden Bears backs against the wall. Haase would give the Navy and Gold a glimmer of hope with a must-get shot that found its way to the back of the net. Minnesota State made their final attempt to end CSP's tournament run.
Eight players found themselves on the pitch for over 100-minutes today including five with a full 110-minute outing. Haase, McKayla Stockness, Clare Snapko, Stella Nielsen and goalkeeper Sydney Potter all recorded a full game.
Potter earned her 15th start of the season in net where she recorded one save to bring her season total to 43. She marked two overtime periods without allowing a goal and was pivotal in the tie today.
Jada Cannady and Sophia King led the team in shots with four each to record a season-high for both players.
Leading the defense was Stockness and Maddison Balashaitis who each played over 100-minutes and held the Mavericks to just two shots on goal.
Concordia held the final shot advantage 19-9 and earned just their second draw with Minnesota State in program-history. The first coming on November 5, 2021 when the two teams played to a draw in double-overtime in St. Paul, Minn. in a regular-season matchup.
The Golden Bears will await their fate with the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. (CT) with the hopes of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Concordia was ranked eighth in the central region in the most recent NCAA Regional Rankings, with the winners of the NSIC, MIAA and GAC Tournaments receiving automatic bids and the other five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
