ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (11-3-3, 8-3-3 NSIC) rolled past the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State 6-0 behind the team's strongest offensive showing of the season on a windy Sunday at Sea Foam Stadium.
From the opening whistle the game was all Golden Bears, with a season-high five different players scoring.
In the first half, the Navy and Gold wasted no time before senior McKayla Stockness found the net for her first goal of the season in the second-minute. She was assisted on the play by Stella Nielsen.
Just six minutes later it was Sophia King who found the net for her first goal of the season, scoring on a quick shuffle in the front of the net. She was assisted on the goal by Stockness.
The Golden Bears would go on to rifle off 16 more shots before freshman Ava Hopper scored her first collegiate goal on a quick pass from Sophia Haase to extend the Concordia lead 3-0 with just over five minutes left to play in the first half.
CSP notched a season-high 21 shots in the first half to hold a 21-4 shot advantage.
Coming out from the break, Concordia showed not one sign of quit, recording five shots before Stella Nielsen found the net for her second goal of the season. She was assisted by freshman Brooke Nelson in the 66th-minute.
The Mustangs were unable to control possession and found themselves struggling to find their footing.
At the 75-minute mark defender Maddison Balashaitis scored her first collegiate goal to extend the Golden Bears lead 5-0 on a pass from King.
A star-studded day left SMSU no room to run, with the CSP defense shutting down every attack opportunity. A quick change of possession and Hopper found herself scoring her second goal of the day on an assist from Sienna Latta in the 83rd-minute. This was Latta's first point in the Navy and Gold.
Two final shots would close out the season-best day for the Golden Bears, tallying a season-best 18 points, six goals, six assists, 36 shots and 20 shots on goal. Concordia held the final shot-advantage 31-5 while allowing just one shot on goal.
Hopper's four points led the team with Stockness, Nielsen and King all recording three points.
A season-high 26 players found themselves playing valuable minutes with Balashaitis, Nielsen and Clare Snapko each playing a team-high 78-minutes.
Haase led the team in shots with 10 to mark a season-high, while adding an assist to extend her team leading points to 18.
Junior goalkeeper Kayla Matuzak got her fourth start of the season in net, making one save to bring her season total to six. Matuzak recorded her second shutout of the season and fourth of her career. She played 75-minutes before sophomore Peyton Baker came in for relief.
Baker saw her first minutes of the season, playing for 15 while facing one shot. Her last minutes came in a relief effort last season in a 4-0 win over New Mexico Highlands in early non-conference action.
The Golden Bears will return to action at Sea Foam Stadium next Thursday for their regular-season finale. Kick-off will take place at 6 p.m. with 10 seniors being recognized for their wonderful contributions to CSP Soccer.
With the win today, the Navy and Gold have clinched their spot in the NSIC Soccer Tournament with the final seeding to come out after the conclusion of the regular-season on Thursday night. This will mark the eighth-straight appearance for the program and 14th all-time appearance.
