ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (1-0, 0-0 NSIC) opened the 2025 season with a 1-0 victory over the Lopers of Nebraska Kearney at Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul, Minn. on brisk Friday night.
Tonight's win marks the third consecutive season-opening shoutout victory for the Golden Bears.
Junior Sophia Haase scored the lone goal for the Navy and Gold, scoring in the 12th minute to mark the eventual game winner with an assist from McKayla Stockness. Haase led the team with eight shots, three coming on goal.
Head coach Steve Bellis on the win, "Tonight's game was super competitive and certainly a close one - I think we probably edged it in the second half." Bellis added, "It's nice to get Haase on the board in game one to grow her confidence. Good to start with a win and we can build on this."
In the first half, the Golden Bears outshot the Lopers 6-3 with Senior forward Ashley Bennet holding a team-leading three shots. Freshman Brooke Nelson owned the first shot of the day in the fifth minute to jump start the CSP offense to which Concordia followed up with a quick two more.
Two back-to-back corner kicks from the Lopers at the end of the first half were unsuccessful due to a quick footed Golden Bear defense.
The Navy and Gold came out of halftime ready to see the net again, riffling off four shots from Haase, Nelson, Jada Cannady and Belle Abruzzo in the first six minutes of play. CSP would go on to hold a 11-6 shot advantage in the second half.
Nebraska Kearney was not going to go down without a fight and kept the defense on their toes. Leading the Golden Bear defense was Abruzzo and Clare Snapko who each put up a 90-minute outing.
Bellis on the defense, "Credit to our backline and goalkeeper who were resilient at times and dealt with everything they needed to for the win."
Goalkeeper Sydney Potter earned the first start of the season in the net, marking her 13th career shutout to rank third all-time for the program in shutouts. Potter made four saves in the win, including two leaping saves in the second half.
The Golden Bears will return to action on Sunday to face familiar NSIC foe Minot State in a non-conference home game. Kick-off will start at 2 p.m. after the conclusion of a neutral site game on home turf prior.
