A Big Beauty Of A Season Opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. John's (Minn.) (1-1-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Concordia-M'head (1-0-0) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
BLAINE, Minn. (11/02/13)—If the rest of the 2013-14 season is anything like the opening game then Concordia is in for one whale of a ride. The Cobbers blanked St. John's 2-0 to record the first shutout for CC against the Johnnies since the 1978-79 season.
The Cobbers kicked off the new campaign by blanking defending MIAC champion No.11-ranked St. John's 2-0 in the annual MIAC Showcase on Saturday. The win is only the second over the Johnnies since the 2006-07 season. The only other victory for CC was a 2-1 win in the 2011 MIAC Showcase.
Concordia outshot the Johnnies in all three periods and showed their experience by shutting out St. John's for the first time in 84 games.
The season opener hung in the balance until the final 10 minutes of the third period. The two teams played a tight checking, no defensive zone mistake 50 minutes of play. The Cobbers held a 20-16 edge in shots on goal for the first two periods. The teams were also a combined 0-for-5 on the power play in the opening 40 minutes.
The game changed at the 11:31 mark when All-American candidate Caleb Suderman scored an unassisted goal to give Concordia the breakthrough 1-0 lead. It was Suderman's 22nd career goal for the Cobbers.
Concordia would then survive a turned up St. John's attack and CC goalie Chris Neamonitis stopped five shots and helped the Cobbers kill off one more penalty in the final eight minutes of play.
The Cobbers would put the game on ice when sophomore Jordie Bancroft pushed home an empty-net goal with just four seconds left in the third period. The Coborn brothers , Tucker and Sam, picked up the assists on the play.
Concordia wound up outshooting the Johnnies 34-29 for the game. Neamonitis lived up to his Twitter handle as he was a Big Beauty the entire game and kicked aside all 29 shots he faced. He earned his second career shutout and was named the No.1 star of the game.
The Cobbers will finish off the season-opening MIAC Showcase when they play Hamline on Sunday, No.3 at 1 p.m. at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minn.