Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's soccer team (0-0-1) battled to a 1-1 draw against the Ferris State Bulldogs (1-0-1) on an overcast Saturday afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.

Stella Nielsen highlighted the Golden Bears' performance, scoring the lone goal for CSP's first goal of the season, knotting the game late in the second half. 

In the first half, Ferris State controlled the play and prevented the CSP offense from gaining possession. The Bulldogs capitalized on the momentum when Haley Buckman converted a penalty kick in the 42nd minute to take a 1-0 lead. 

Ferris State held a 6-5 shot advantage at halftime, while CSP committed seven fouls to the Bulldogs' three. Ferris State also held a 2-0 advantage in corner kicks. 

Coming out of halftime, CSP was looking for its first score of the season, stopping every attempt for the Bulldogs to steal possession and forcing their way down the field. 

It was a back-and-forth battle in the second half until Stella Nielsen scored the equalizer in the 83rd minute, finishing a scramble in front of the net off a free kick from Brooke Nelson that was redirected by Maddison Balashaitis to tie the match at 1-1.

Both teams' defenses turned on the bright lights and stopped everything coming their way to end the game in a 1-1 draw. 

Today's match marked Concordia's first draw in a season opener since tying Rockhurst (Mo.) 1-1 on Aug. 25, 2022. 

CSP held a slight shot advantage 12-11 and took three shots on goal on the day while holding the Bulldogs to just two shots on goal. 

Senior goalkeeper Sydney Potter made her 32nd career start in net, recording one save to bring her career total to 108 saves. 

Leading the defense for the Golden Bears was Maddison Balashaitis, who played a 90-minute outing and earned her second career assist on CSP's lone goal. The full outing marked Balashaitis' seventh of her career. 

Anchoring the midfielders was Sophia Haase, Lexi Pettit and Breanna Weilert who each stayed on the pitch for the full 90-minutes. 

Stella Nielsen tallied a career-high three shots on goal in today's draw, leading the team while also scoring the equalizing goal. The goal marked the third of Nielsen's career. 

Freshman Madeleine Thompson appeared in her first career match and made her first start for the Golden Bears on defense. Thompson played 86 minutes for CSP as a crucial anchor of the defense. 

The Golden Bears will return to action next weekend for a pair of road games. First they will visit the Rangers of Parkside on Friday and finish the weekend with the Lakers of Roosevelt on Sunday.