ST. PAUL, Minn. - With one of the largest February snowstorms hitting the Twin Cities this week, the Golden Bear lacrosse team was able to beat the weather and head on a weekend road trip to the St. Louis, Missouri area to face McKendree on Friday at 3 p.m. in Lebanon, Illinois before heading to St. Louis for a Sunday afternoon game at 1 p.m. against Maryville.

The Golden Bears are off to a 1-2 start to non-conference play, facing three Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opponents, adding two more GLVC opponents this weekend.

McKendree is off to a 3-0 start to the 2023 season, with home wins over Davenport (12-9), Findlay (14-9) and Tiffin (19-5). Maryville is off to a 2-0 start, picking up home wins over Tiffin (23-1) and Quincy (19-8).

Last year, McKendree finished fourth in the league at 4-3 with an 8-9 overall record while Maryville was 1-6 in league play to for seventh while finishing 4-8 overall.

In the seven-team 2023 GLVC, Maryville was picked fourth and McKendree fifth in the preseason poll. CSP has already faced defending GLVC and Division II champion Indianapolis who was picked first, as well as scoring a win at Quincy who was picked seventh while falling at preseason number two Rockhurst.

The Golden Bears have secured a GLIAC Player of the Week in two-straight weeks to start the season, with freshman Lauren Sheets named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week after opening weekend while senior goalie Candace McDole was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week after the second weekend of play.

Concordia is 0-4 all-time against McKendree and 1-0 against Maryville. CSP hasn't faced McKendree since 2019 when McKendree was a member of the GLIAC. Two of the four losses have been by five goals or less including a 1-goal loss in 2018. CSP topped Maryville in the only meeting between the clubs in 2019 on the road, an 18-3 victory for the Golden Bears.

Through three games, CSP has been led offensively by Lauren Sheets with nine goals while Susie Monson and Morgan Haapala each have two goals and an assist as CSP's top three point-scorers are all freshmen. CSP's top distributors are Libby Fowler and Kayleigh Nelson with two assists each. Monson leads the team with 15 total shots while 10 of Sheets' 11 shots have been on frame, with nine of them hitting the back of the net.

CSP's midfield has been led by Monson's 10 draw controls while Nelson has four and Sydney Smith has three, another trio of freshmen.

Defensively, freshman Claire Flahaven has a team-high seven caused turnovers while sophomore Meghan McGowan has five to go with five ground balls, topping all field players in the category and trailing only McDole (11).

CSP's two goalies have both been strong in the cage, with McDole producing a pair of 11-save performances and holding up with a .440 save percentage against 69 shots faced. Maddy Huebner, a junior, secured nine saves and picked up a win with a .474 save percentage while facing 23 shots against Quincy in her first appearance of the season.