ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - No. 21 Missouri Western Soccer (15-2-3) returns to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament for the second time in program history as the Central Region No. 3 seed against No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul (13-3-4) on Friday in Minnesota. Kickoff from The Pitch in Mankato is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE ACTION
Both the first and second rounds matches this weekend will be broadcast on the NSIC Network. Fans can also follow along with live stats at https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The winner of the MWSU and CSP game will advance to face the winner of the matchup between No. 2 Minnesota State and No. 7 St. Cloud State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The winner of Sunday's match will return to action on Dec. 1 to play against the winner from the opposite side of the central region bracket.
 
Regional champions will meet in the quarterfinal-round to be played Saturday, Dec. 7. The semifinal and championship games will take place December 13 and 15 at Sportsplex at Matthews in Matthews, N.C. hosted by Wingate.
 
The complete 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship bracket is available online at https://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-women/d2.
 
BACK TO NATIONALS
Missouri Western is returning to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history on Friday. Their first and only appearance was in the 2017 season, where they dropped in a 1-0 heartbreaker to Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
HISTORY AGAINST CSP
Tomorrow's match between the Griffons and Golden Bears will be the third meeting ever between the two teams. MWSU has won both previous encounters against CSP, with the latest being a 2-1 decision in 2021.
 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS
Concordia-St. Paul finished the 2023 season 9-7-2 (6-4-4 MIAA) and was picked to finish this season seventh in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 137 points. They have exceeded expectations this season, finishing second in the league just behind Minnesota State, who finished a perfect 11-0-3 in conference play.
 
The Golden Bears ended the regular season strong, winning seven consecutive games while outscoring their opponents 17-2. During this stretch, they achieved four shutouts, aided by the NSIC Goalkeeper of the Year, Sydney Potter.
 
CSP began the NSIC tournament with a 1-0 victory against Bemidji State in the quarterfinals, achieving the same result that Missouri Western had against the Beavers in their season opener. However, CSP's tournament ended abruptly when they lost to Minot State in a penalty kick shootout.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The MIAA runner-up Griffons started the conference tournament with a 1-0 victory against Nebraska Kearney but struggled to find their rhythm in the semifinal match against the eventual champion, Central Missouri, resulting in a 2-0 loss.
 
Central Missouri started the game strong, scoring a goal in the seventh minute from Caroline Cole to grab early momentum. Meanwhile, MWSU struggled to establish an offensive rhythm during the first half, managing only two shots—one of which was on goal by senior Lauren Nylund. In contrast, UCM recorded six shots, five of which were on target.
 
The Jennies extended their lead early in the second half with a goal from Izzy Joyce in the 49th minute. The Griffons created some chances in the second half, including a pair of shots from Kendall Knisley and one from senior Elisabeth Pujado. However, their efforts were not enough to overcome the two-goal deficit.
 
Senior Keeley Kroonenberg (13-2-3) collected four saves and faced eight shots in her 18th start of the season. Aidyn Woodall, Katelynn Rowland, Annie McDevitt, Nylund and Brookelyn Buttolph each played the full 90 minutes.