BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Northern Sun released the 2025 NSIC Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches Poll on Thursday morning and Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish second in the league with Sophia Haase and Clare Snapko being named the Preseason Players to Watch.
The Golden Bears earned 202 points and one first-place vote in the poll, just behind Minnesota State. MSU tops the preseason poll, coming off a season in which they were the NCAA Division II Soccer National Runner-up. The Mavericks earned 224 points and 14 first-place votes.
CSP is coming off its seventh straight trip to the NSIC Tournament after finishing (13-4-4, 10-3-1 NSIC) and earning their second trip back to the NCAA Tournament.
Looking ahead to this year's team, Head Coach Steve Bellis said, "On the back of a strong 2024 and a solid Spring season, we feel we have a good balance in the group of returners and incoming players, plus the transfer players that will bring some quality experience to the squad. Of course, we know the NSIC will bring big challenges in every game, and we feel that we have enough depth to deal with those challenges - we are excited to get rolling!"
Junior midfielder Sophia Haase returns after a strong 2024 campaign and is this year's Offensive Player to Watch. Haase is coming off a season in which she appeared in 20 games, including 17 starts. She scored a team-leading eight goals and 21 points to become just the sixth player in program history to be named on the D2CCA All-Central Region First-Team and fifth player to be named a CSC Academic All-American for her performance on the pitch.
Bellis on Haase, "Haase is a coach's dream to work with. From recruitment to today, she soaks up the information given and has an unbelievable work rate to improve even more. She's a Captain and leads the group by example. Her love of the game is evident, and she is our offensive preseason player of the year nomination."
Senior defender Clare Snapko enters her senior year as this year's Defensive Player to Watch. Snapko is coming off a season in which she started in all 21 games for CSP. She was a mainstay on the defense while being a scoring weapon on the offense and was named All-NSIC Second Team.
Bellis on Snapko, "When you think of tough, hard-to-beat defenders, Clare is always in that list. Her mindset to win at everything is infectious to the group and is extremely driven to finish strong this year. She's a leader, team Captain and she brings a chemistry to the group that is hard to find. She is our defensive preseason player of the year nomination."
The Golden Bears will open the season with a pair of non-conference home games, playing Nebraksa Kearney on Sept. 5 and Minot State on Sept. 7 at SeaFoam Stadium.
