A Season-Saving 18-Minute Turnaround

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/15/14)—It was 18 minutes that may prove to be the pivotal moment of the season. Concordia erased a three-goal deficit in the final 18 minutes of the third period against Gustavus and went on to claim a shootout victory after a scoreless overtime period.

The three-goal outburst kept the Cobbers from getting swept on the weekend and gives them two huge points in the conference standings. The game goes down in the record books as a 3-3 tie which brings the Cobbers overall record to 2-3-1 on the season.

After losing a hard-fought 2-1 decision in the first game of the series on Friday to the Gusties, Concordia needed to come away with multiple standing points on Saturday. For the first 42 minutes of the game it looked like the Cobbers would drop their first two league games of the year and be facing an uphill battle in the conference race.  

Gustavus controlled the first two periods of play on the scoreboard despite being outshot 18-12 for the first 40 minutes of play. The Gusties held a 2-0 lead entering the third frame and then added a third in the first minute of play. Concordia appeared to be in dire straits considering the fact that they had only put one puck past Gustavus goalie Erik Johnson in the first five periods, and 50 shots, of the series.

The game, and possibly the season, changed on a short-handed situation in the first two minutes after GAC had gone up 3-0. Concordia was able to match the early-period goal when Jordie Bancroft netted the team's second "shorty" of the season. He ignited the comeback by scoring his fourth goal of the year at the 2:16 mark. Garrett Hendrickson earned the first of his two assists in the game on the play.

Concordia then got to within one goal midway thought the third period when senior captain Andrew Deters stepped up to lead by example. Deters scored the first of his two goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation at the 10:36 mark. Hendrickson and Jordan Krebsbach had the helpers.

The Cobbers continued to press for the game-tying goal in the final five minutes of play and Deters was more than happy to oblige as he potted his third goal of the season with under three minutes to play. Bancroft picked up the assist to earn two points on the day.

The game then went through the final two minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime without either team getting another goal. The Cobbers had the only two shots in the overtime session.

The teams then decided who would earn the bonus point in the standings with a three-shot shootout.

Sophomore goalie Jordyn Kaufer was the star of the shootout as he stopped all three shots he faced in the NHL-style shootout. Bancroft put the dot at the bottom of the exclamation point in the shootout period. After starting the comeback with the shorthanded goal he then finished off the bonus-point win for CC by beating Johnson for the only successful attempt in the shootout.

Concordia wound up outshooting Gustavus 28-18 for the game and 60-33 for the two-game series. Bancroft led the Cobbers with five shots on Saturday. Bancroft, Deters and Hendrickson all had eight shots in the series.

Kaufer made 15 saves to pick up the tie. He is now 1-2-1 on the year.

Concordia will hit the road for their final conference series before December. The Cobbers will play at bethel in a two-game series on Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22. Both games will be played at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine.