ST. PAUL, Minn. - The No. 5 seeded Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (12-3-3, 9-3-3 NSIC) is set to play the No. 4 seeded Beavers of Minot State (9-5-4, 9-2-4 NSIC) in the 2025 NSIC Soccer Tournament Quarterfinals on Nov. 10.
Monday's game will kick-off at 5 p.m. in Minot, N.D. at First Western Bank Field at Herb Parker Stadium with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The top eight teams from the NSIC Soccer Standings advance to the single-elimination tournament. The top four seeds host first round matches on Monday, November 10 with the winning teams advancing to the semifinal and championship rounds on Friday, November 14 and Sunday, November 16 in a bracketed format. There will be no reseeding following the first round matches. The highest remaining seed following the quarterfinal matches will host both semifinal and championship matches.
Minnesota State won its eighth NSIC regular season title after earning 40 points by finishing 13-1-1 in NSIC play. The Mavericks will be the number one seed entering the tournament and will host a first round match against eighth seeded University of Mary on Monday at 1 p.m. Bemidji State earned the second seed and will host seventh seed Northern State at 5 p.m. Third seeded St. Cloud State will matchup with sixth seeded Augustana at 1 p.m., while fourth seeded Minot State will host fifth seeded Concordia-St. Paul at 5 p.m.
The winner of the 2025 NSIC Women's Soccer Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Central Region Tournament. The complete NCAA championship bracket will be announced on Monday, November 17 via a webcast selection show on www.NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
RECAP OF THE WEEK
Game One: CSP 3, WSU 1
Sophia Haase played hero for the sixth time this season, scoring the game-winner to send her to top-three in game-winning goals in NCAA Division II while also leading the team with eight shots.
In the first half, CSP got off to a quick start, tallying five shots before freshman Brooke Nelson got the squad on the board. She was assisted on the play by senior Sophia King in the 16th-minute.
Now under pressure, the Warriors needed new legs on the pitch, making seven substitutions to keep the Golden Bears defense checked in. A corner kick to put the ball in play gave Faith Quinn the chance to make a quick pass to Madison Barnick who kicked a perfectly placed ball to the back of the net to even the score.
With their fire reignited, the Navy and Gold would hold steady possession with three shots before a corner kick would set up their next opportunity. Clare Snapko sent a shot flying from the corner to which Haase headed the ball spiraling past the WSU goalkeeper to get back on top in the 38th-minute.
In the 81st-minute a free kick attempt for Belle Abruzzo would send the ball hurdling through the offensive zone, landing in front of senior Jada Cannady who sent it straight into the net to extend the Navy and Gold's lead 3-1.
One final shot for the Warriors would not be enough and give the Golden Bears their third straight win to end the regular-season.
Concordia held the final shot-advantage 21-9 while limiting Winona State to just six shots on goal.
SEASON LEADERS
Sophia Haase wrapped-up her impressive regular-season, ranking first in the NSIC in game-winning goals (6), shots per game (4.17), shots on goal per game (2.28) and shots per game (4.17).
Her six game-winning goals ranks third in NCAA Division II and her shots on goal per game rank 10th.
Brooke Nelson ranks second on the team in points with 12 after tallying five goals and two assists in her freshman campaign. Her total goals ranks T-7th in the NSIC.
Lexi Pettit continues to lead the team in assists with four which ranks T-4th in the NSIC.
Goalkeeper Sydney Potter has now seen 13 starts where she has recorded 40 saves to produce a 8-3-3 record.
Leading the defense is Clare Snapko who has played a team-leading 1489 minutes and has recorded two goals and three assists.
As a team, the Golden Bears rank second in the NSIC in shots (339) and shots on goal (158).
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The second NCAA Women's Soccer rankings were released and the Golden Bars were ranked eighth in the central region.
This is the Navy and Gold's third time in the regional rankings and second consecutive season in which they appear. They made their first appearance in 2019, where they won the NSIC Regular-Season Title and made their first NCAA appearance in program-history.
Last season, CSP earned their first time back on the list since 2019 and went on to make their second NCAA Tournament appearance.
The third and final rankings will be released on Wednesday.
HISTORY BETWEEN THE CSP AND MINOT
The two programs have met a total of 16 times dating back to September 29, 2012. The Beavers currently own a 8-5-3 all-time advantage over the Golden Bears.
Since the 2019 season, CSP has owned a 5-1-3 record including a 1-0 win earlier this season at Sea Foam Stadium in a non-conference game before the two teams met in the regular-season where the Beavers earned the 1-0 win.
Monday's contest will mark the fifth game between the two schools in the last two seasons. Last season, Concordia earned a 3-0 win in the regular season before the two teams met in the NSIC Tournament Semifinals. After a scoreless regulation game and two overtimes, the Beavers advanced to the Championship game on penalty kicks.
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Minot State posted a (11-4-5, 8-3-3 NSIC) record in the 2024 season where they made it to the NSIC Tournament Championship, falling to Minnesota State 2-0.
Minot was picked to finish eighth in the 2025 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 128 points right behind Northern State.
The Beavers currently sit at (9-5-4, 9-2-4 NSIC) after playing eight unbeaten games to wrap-up their regular-season including a 2-1 victory over UMary in the regular-season finale to clinch the fourth seed in the NSIC Tournament.
HISTORY IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
CSP holds a 7-14-1 record in the conference tournament since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 1999. The Golden Bears won their first tournament game on October 24, 2006 with a 3-1 win over MSU Moorhead.
The most successful finish for the Navy and Gold came in 2019 where they reached the championship game for the first time in program history. That season, the No. 20 Golden Bears won the NSIC Regular-Season title for the first time and opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Wayne State in the quarterfinals and added a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State in the semifinals match.
In 2023, Concordia reached the tournament as the seventh seed and upset No. 19 ranked Minnesota State 2-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2021. In the semifinals, CSP fell 1-0 to the Marauders of UMary to end their run.
Last season, the Golden Bears hosted the quarterfinals round as the second seed in the tournament where they faced the Bemidji State Beavers at Sea Foam Stadium. Concordia earned a 1-0 victory led by a Sophia Haase game-winner to advance to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, the Navy and Gold faced Minot State where after a full 90-minute regulation game and two overtime periods the game was knotted 0-0, the game headed to penalty kicks where the Beavers came out on top 5-4 to end the Golden Bears NSIC run.
Concordia enters this year's NSIC tournament for the eighth straight season and 14th all-time appearance.
