Deters' Dramatics Highlight Opening Weekend

BLAINE, Minn. (10/27/12)—Sophomore Andrew Deters provided a dramatic last-second goal game-tying goal to cap Concordia's opening weekend of the 2012-13 season. The Cobbers fell to Gustavus 5-1 on Saturday but then rallied to tie Hamline 5-5 in overtime on Sunday at the annual MIAC Showcase.    

The five-goal output on Sunday against the Pipers equals Concordia's total of five-goal games from last season. CC, who scored five or more goals in only one contest in 2011-12, showed off their new-look offense against Hamline by netting a pair of goals in each of the first and third periods. In the end it still took Deters' second goal of the game to come away with the tie.

Concordia scored the first two goals of the game and appeared to be cruising past Hamline. Dan Hrabowych got the Cobbers on the scoreboard in the fourth minute of play and then Deters netted his first goal of the game at the 7:44 mark. Trent Johnson was credited with an assist on each of the two goals. It would be the first two of his three helpers on the day.

Hamline found their legs in the second half of the opening period and got a goal back in the 13^th minute of play. The Pipers then tied the game in the first eight minutes of the second stanza to set up a back-and-forth affair for the final 36 minutes of play.

All-Conference defenseman Caleb Suderman gave CC a 3-2 lead when he notched his first goal of the season at 11:23. Hamline responded with a power play goal at 14:50 to send the teams into the locker room all square at 3-3 heading into the final frame.  

The Cobbers once again went on top and forced the Pipers to rally from behind. Freshman Adam Sundqvist picked up his first collegiate goal when he finished off a scoring play from Ben Payne and Aaron Wheeler. It would be Payne's first of two assists in the period. 

The Pipers rallied to score two goals in a span of less than three minutes midway through the period and shocked Concordia by grabbing a 5-4 lead.

That would set the stage for Deters' heroics in the final minute of play. Payne and Jordie Bancroft set up the score at the 30-second mark and Concordia tied the game for the final time of the afternoon.

The two teams then skated through the five-minute overtime period without a goal. Hamline held a slight 5-4 edge in shots on goal in the extra period but neither team could come away with the game winner.

The two teams were deadlocked in shots for the entire game. Both Concordia and Hamline had 35 shots for the 65 minutes. CC goalie Kelly Andrew made 30 saves in his first start of the season. HU netminder also had 30 stops in the game.

The Cobbers showed their first-game jitters in the opener against Gustavus on Saturday night. The Gusties, playing in their second contest of the year used their game experience to bolt to a 2-0 lead just  3:21 into the first period of play. CC was never able to recover from the two-goal hole and lost by four.

Dmitry Kalashnikov recorded the only goal of the game for the Cobbers when he scored midway through the second period to pull Concordia to within one goal at 2-1. Unfortunately that would be the only goal of the game for CC and the Gusties would post three in the third to get the win.

Gustavus outshot Concordia 40-29 in the game. The Cobbers were 0-for-4 on the play while the Gusties went 2-for-5.

Chris Neamonitis got the start in the opener for the Cobbers. He made 35 saves in the three periods. Tyler Venne made 28 saves to earn the win.

The Cobbers will now return to Moorhead to host their home opener next weekend. Concordia will square off against league favorite St. Thomas on Friday Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center. CC will follow that with a home game against UW-Stout on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.