Mavs soccer gets read for tourney

The Minnesota State soccer team will begin their spring season tomorrow evening in their home opener against Minot State.

The four time NSIC defending champions and NCAA Elite Eight finalists completed their preseason exhibition matches at the end of February with a 2-0 record.

The Mavericks first win of the preseason came against Northwest Missouri State in a 3-0 win at home, while they took their second win against Creighton in Nebraska.

MSU is 7-1 since 2012 against the Beavers, most recently winning 5-2 on the road. Their only loss in the span was a double overtime battle where Minot State handed the Mavericks their first NSIC loss of the season in 2017.

With a record of 19-4-1 in 2019, the Mavs finished the season at rank No. 5 in the NCAA Division II rankings.

In Minot State’s last season in 2019, they finished with a record of 3-15, 15th in the NSIC standings. They averaged just 0.78 goals per game, and allowed 2.61 goals per game in the 2019 season. 

The Beavers scored just 14 goals through 18 games last season, and through three games this season, have scored eight goals.

Later in the weekend, the Mavericks will take on the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears Sunday in the first game of the 2021 Spring Soccer Tournament in the Maverick All-Sports Dome. 

Since 2002, MSU is 18-1 against CSP with their lone loss coming recently, in a 1-0 loss in November of 2019. In that span, the Mavericks have outscored Concordia 66-8 in 19 games. In their most recent matchup, the Mavericks took a 3-0 win in late November of 2019, in the game that secured MSU’s fourth straight NSIC Championship. 

In 2019, Concordia-St. Paul finished first in the NSIC regular season with a record of 17-2-2. 

The Mavericks will finish out the tournament the following weekend with a game against Upper Iowa Friday, and the championship game Sunday.

Head coach Brian Bahl will lead the team in his ninth season as a Maverick. In his time at Mankato, he holds a 128-18-12 record.