ST. PAUL, Minn. - The No. 5 seeded Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (9-3-6, 8-3-4 NSIC) is set to play the No. 4 seeded Wolves of Northern State (10-4-3, 9-3-3NSIC) in the 2026 NSIC Soccer Tournament Quarterfinals on Nov. 2. 

Monday's game will kick-off at 5 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D. at Jerde Field with a trip to the semifinals on the line. 

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The 2026 NSIC Women's Soccer Tournament pairings have been determined following the conclusion of the NSIC regular season schedule. 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 2 with the winning teams advancing to the semifinal and championship rounds on Friday, November 6 and Sunday, November 8 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 a share of its ninth NSIC regular season title after earning 38 points by finishing 12-1-2 in NSIC play. They shared the regular season title with the University of Mary, which earned a share of its first league title. The Mavericks will be the number one seed entering the tournament and will host a first round match against eighth seeded St. Cloud State on Monday at 1 p.m. UMary earned the second seed and will host seventh seed Bemidji State at 4 p.m. Third seeded Minnesota Duluth will matchup with sixth seeded Augustana at 4 p.m., while fourth seeded Northern State will host fifth seeded Concordia-St. Paul at 5 p.m.

The winner of the 2026 NSIC Women's Soccer Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Central Region Tournament.  

RECAP OF THE WEEK
Game One: CSP 4, WSU 0

The Golden Bears improved to 9-24-1 in the all-time series against the Warriors, winning the last three matchups.

Sophia Haase and Ashley Bennett led the Navy and Gold on Thursday night, with Haase recording two goals and an assist to extend her single-season scoring record to 19 goals and her career scoring record to 38 goals. Bennett added a career-high three assists, tying for the second-most in a single game in CSP history. 

The Golden Bears created several scoring opportunities in the opening half, eventually breaking through in the 24th minute when Sophia Haase found the back of the net off a cross from Ashley Bennett to give CSP a 1-0 lead.

Winona State held a 7-4 advantage in shots, while CSP recorded three shots on goal compared to Winona State's three. The Golden Bears also held a 3-0 edge in corner kicks.

CSP came out strong in the second half, adding another goal just 1:33 into the period. Morgan Bilczewski scored her first career goal in the 47th minute, finishing another pass from Bennett to extend the lead to 2-0.

Haase added her second goal of the night in the 60th minute, recording her sixth multi-goal game of the season off her third assist from Bennett to extend CSP's lead to 3-0. 

Breanna Weilert capped the scoring in the 90th minute, recording her first goal of the season off an assist from Haase to secure the 4-0 victory.

The Golden Bears dominated the second-half statistics, outshooting Winona State 16-1 and holding a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal.

CSP finished with a 20-8 advantage in shots and a 9-4 edge in shots on goal. The Golden Bears also held a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Ashley Bennett led the Golden Bears with three assists, recording a helper on both of Haase's goals and Bilczewski's goal. Haase recorded her first assist of the season on Weilert's goal, finishing with five points in the matchup. 

CSP's defense limited Winona State to just one shot in the second half, holding the Warriors to eight shots for the game. 

Morgan Bilczewski and Maddison Balashaitis each played more than 80 minutes to help anchor the Golden Bears' defensive effort. 

Senior goalkeeper Sydney Potter recorded four saves in the shutout, securing her 28th career shutout. She ranks second in the NSIC with 10 shutouts this season. 

SEASON LEADERS
Sophia Haase wrapped-up her impressive regular-season, Haase ranks second in the NSIC with 19 goals this season, leading the Golden Bears and tying for fourth in Division II. She also ranks second in the conference with seven game-winning goals. 

Pettit leads the Golden Bears and is tied for second in the NSIC with seven assists this season. She became the Golden Bears' all-time assist leader in conference play with 12 career assists. 

Haase leads the team and ranks third in the NSIC with 70 shots. She also leads the Golden Bears and ranks third in the conference with 39 shots on goal. 
Maddison Balashaitis, Brooke Nelson, and Haase have each played at least 1,400 minutes this season, with Balashaitis leading the team with 1,572 minutes played. 

Potter leads the Golden Bears with 18 full 90-minute starts and ranks second in the NSIC with a 0.61 goals-against average and an .857 save percentage. She also ranks sixth in saves (66) and second in shutouts (10). 

HISTORY BETWEEN THE CSP AND NORTHERN STATE
The two programs have met 31 times, with Northern State holding a 20-7-4 advantage in the all-time series over the Golden Bears.

The Golden Bears played Northern State to a 1-1 draw earlier this season on Sept. 11. Lexi Pettit scored the opening goal in the 19th minute before Northern State's Abby Missman evened the score in the 61st minute. CSP outshot the Wolves 18-12. 

ABOUT THE WOLVES
Northern State enters the matchup with a 10-4-3 overall record and a 9-3-3 mark in NSIC play after defeating Jamestown 2-0 on Thursday. The Wolves hold an 8-1-1 record at home this season at Jerde Field. 

The Wolves were picked to finish seventh in the 2026 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 142 points and have climbed three spots from their preseason ranking. 
Junior Jaylee Hofer leads the Wolves with six goals and five assists this season.

HISTORY IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
CSP holds a 8-15-1 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 traveled to Minot as the fifth seed in the tournament to face the Minot State Beavers. CSP earned a 0-0 victory in regulation before winning the penalty shootout 3-0. 

In the semifinals, the Navy and Gold faced Minnesota State. After 90 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, the score remained 0-0. The game went to a penalty shootout, where the Mavericks prevailed 4-2 to end the Golden Bears' NSIC Tournament run. 
Concordia enters this year's NSIC tournament for the ninth straight season and 15th all-time appearance.