Bre Nelson Helping Cobbers Get Back To Success

Article reprinted courtesy of Fargo Forum and reporter Eric Peterson.


MOORHEAD — Bre Nelson — who wanted to be a pro hockey player during her youth — remembers when she was around seventh grade and joked with a club teammate about her soccer future.

"I told her, if we never lose a game this whole season, I'll play soccer year round," Nelson recalled. "The funny thing is we never lost a game. ... The real reason is I fell in love with soccer."

Nelson went on to be a four-year starter and two-time North Dakota state champion for Fargo Davies. Now, she's a senior goalkeeper for the Concordia Cobbers, who are in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer playoffs for the first time since 2015.

"It's everything I could have ever hoped and dreamed," Nelson said. "I knew there was something different about this group of girls and throughout the whole season we proved that, that was the deal and that was going to happen."

The Cobbers (8-5-4) earned a 2-0 victory against St. Benedict in the MIAC quarterfinals with Nelson stopping nine shots to earn her fifth shutout this season. Concordia next plays at No. 2 seed St. Catherine at 2 p.m. Thursday in the conference semifinals.

"It's been a wonderful time because of everyone on the team," Nelson said.

Nelson has had a stellar season posting a 6-1-3 record with a 0.60 goals against average, including an .897 save percentage.

"Bre is more confident than I've ever seen her," said Cobbers head coach Rebecca Quimby, who has led the program since the 2018 season. "She's been a great anchor and on top of that she's a really good communicator, really great leader. She is the whole package right now."

Nelson appreciates the progress the Cobbers have made since she entered the program in 2020. Her first season was disrupted due to COVID-19 and in her second year on the program, Concordia was 5-12-0 overall and 2-9-0 in the MIAC, finishing in 12th place in the conference.

"As low as you could go and building the program from there," Nelson said. "It's a very fun experience and awesome to see where we are now."

Nelson has played in 39 games, including 28 starts, during her Concordia career. She has a 13-19-5 record with a 1.50 goals against average and a .789 save percentage. Her save percentage has improved in each of her seasons with the Cobbers.

Quimby said the 5-foot-6 Nelson has always excelled at stopping breakaways, but she's continued to improve her all-around game.

"The thing that she's taken to another level this year is her ability to come off of her line and get crosses in the air," Quimby said. "There's not much that Bre doesn't do well. Bre is just as good with her feet as she is with her hands. She's really great technically."

Nelson credits the players around her for her success this fall. She's only allowed six goals over her 10 starts.

"I wouldn't even pin that to my own abilities," Nelson said. "I want to give all that credit to the people in front of me. The whole entire team out there giving it their all."

Nelson said she played forward and goalkeeper early in her soccer career that started around the age of 5. However, around seventh grade is when she started to fall in love with goalkeeper and wanted to play there full time. She said French pro Hugo Lloris — who plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League — was one of her early influences.

"I liked his style and liked what he did," Nelson said.

Nelson said she's relished her final college season with the Cobbers, and being the team that got Concordia back to the postseason.

"I knew there was something different about this group of girls and throughout the whole season we proved that, that was the deal and that was going to happen," Nelson said.

From 2003 to 2014 the Cobbers were a perennial conference power, finishing in the top four in the MIAC standings each season.

"It's big for this program, it's big for this group," Quimby said. "These kids have worked really hard for this. It's really exciting that we're back because we have been successful in the past and we did fall off for a while."